L.A. Metro applies for $1.9B in funding for light-rail projects

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday submitted an application package to compete for $1.9 billion in new state funding for three key light-rail projects.

The funds would come from the California Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program, for which awards will be announced Jan. 31, 2023, L.A. Metro officials said in a press release.

L.A. Metro applied for funding for three projects:

• $798 million for the L Line Foothill Extension Project in the San Gabriel Valley between the future Pomona Station and the city of Montclair;

• $600 million for the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor, a 9-mile light-rail line to run between the G Line’s Van Nuys Station and the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station; and

• $500 million for the West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor, a 19.3-mile light-rail line between Artesia and Southeast L.A. County and Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, L.A. Metro's board has approved a locally preferred alternative for the Eastside Transit Corridor Phase 2 Project, which will extend the L Line from East Los Angeles to Whittier.

The chosen alternative will extend the line east from its current terminus at Pomona/Atlantic to Greenwood Station in Montebello. The 4.6-mile route includes four stations, a new alignment and maintenance/storage facility site options.

The line extension will serve the cities of Commerce, Montebello, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs and Whittier and the unincorporated communities of East Los Angeles and West Whittier-Los Nietos.

The board also chose Lambert Station in Whittier to be the 9-mile project’s terminus and authorized the preparation of the final environmental impact report. Following the report’s completion, L.A. Metro can begin construction by 2029.