LA Metro marks design milestone on Airport Metro Connector

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) is 60 percent finished with design plans for the new Airport Metro Connector station, agency officials reported in a blog post yesterday.

The station will provide transfers from the Green Line and the future Crenshaw/LAX light-rail line to Los Angeles International Airport's new $4.9 billion automated people mover system.

The Airport Metro Connector station also will include bus bays for local buses, along with a pickup/drop-off area.

"Long story short: it means not having to drive into the very congested airport horseshoe," Metro officials wrote in the blog.

Major construction on the station is slated to start in 2020. It is expected to open in 2023, the same year that the people mover system will be completed.

But first, Metro aims to finish and begin operating the Crenshaw/LAX Line, agency officials said.

Meanwhile, Metro also released an operating plan for the Crenshaw/LAX and Green lines. Metro's board will decide this month whether to approve the plan.