Metro Transit Line Through Sepulveda Pass Could Cost Up To $13B
SHERMAN OAKS (CBSLA) — The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority unveiled renderings for a new rail line along the Sepulveda Pass Wednesday.
Metro is currently exploring four options — three being subway lines and one option being a monorail.
The project's first phase would take riders from Van Nuys to the Westside expo line in under 20 minutes, eventually extending to LAX.
Bob Anderson with the Sherman Oaks Homeowners association said, "We want this project. This is perhaps the most important project metro is going to build in the entire county."
Anderson is for the new rail line but isn't too keen about all of the potential options, the monorail specifically.
"We hate the elevated and we'll do anything we can to stop it," he said. "And anything."
Anderson fears residents along Sepulveda Blvd. through Sherman Oaks and Van Nuys will hear the new addition coming.
"There's 5,000 apartments, homes, and duplexes, and condos. That's a lot of people to hear this train every four minutes."
Metro originally allocated $5.7 billion from sales tax money to fund the project but is now saying the total cost will be closer to $13 billion.
L.A. Metro Spokesperson Brian Haas said, "The cost has gone up because of demand in the Valley section was higher than anticipated which required us to add an additional two miles."
Despite the cost, Metro says they hope to have the first phase done before the 2028 Olympics.
Metro held a public outreach meeting on Wednesday night on the new proposals to gauge public reaction. A second meeting is scheduled for this Saturday in Culver City at the Veterans Memorial Building.