LA Metro OKs light-rail studies for West Santa Ana Branch

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro) board has approved further study of two northern alignments for the proposed West Santa Ana Branch light-rail line.

The entire 20-mile line would run from downtown Los Angeles to Artesia, California. One proposed alignment for the line's northern segment would connect to Los Angeles Union Station, while the other would transfer to other Metro rail lines that travel to Union Station.

The agency will continue analyzing each potential route as part of the project's draft environmental impact statement and report, Metro officials wrote in a blog post.

The agency has identified a route for the project south of downtown LA, where the project would follow the Blue Line to Slauson Station, run along Randolph Street and then use a pair of old rail rights-of-way to Artesia.

However, planning for the route's northern portion has been "more challenging," agency officials said in the blog.

"With concerns raised about construction and visual impacts for the original four northern routes (particularly in Little Tokyo), the Metro board earlier this year approved looking at additional northern options," they said.

To pay for the project, Metro currently has set aside $4 billion from Measures M and R and other sources.