Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor Project, Los Angeles

The Crenshaw and Los Angeles Airport (LAX) Transit Corridor Project will connect the existing Green Line of the Los Angeles Metro with the Expo Line to improve services to the crowded urban localities of the Crenshaw District, Inglewood, and the LAX area.

The project will be developed at an estimated cost of $2.06bn. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved the budget for the project in June 2013. It is one of 12 projects that are being funded by Measure R, the half-cent sales tax approved by Los Angeles County voters in 2008. The board also approved an additional $160m contingency fund for the project.

Crenshaw and LAX project details

The 13.5km (8.5 miles) long rail line will have eight new stations. The construction work was commenced in January 2014 is expected to conclude by 2018.

The project involves the relocation of utilities and demolition of selected properties along the right-of-way. A new maintenance facility, park-and-ride lots and traction power substations are the major facilities to be built under the project.

The maintenance facility, known as the Southwestern Yard, will be located at Arbor Vitae and Bellanca, while park and ride lots will be built at Crenshaw and Exposition, Florence and West and Florence and La Brea stations. All stations will include public art galleries and convenient accessibility to disabled commuters.

Walsh and Shea Corridor Constructors (WSCC), a joint venture between Walsh Construction and JF Shea Company, was chosen as the builder of the light rail line and HNTB Corporation was selected as the lead designer for the project.

Line routes

The new line will start from the current Metro Exposition Line at Crenshaw and Exposition Boulevards and end at the Aviation and LAX Station of the Green line, and will offer services to Inglewood, El Segundo, and parts of unincorporated Los Angeles County.

The route will include aerial segments at La Brea Av and La Cienega Bl and 405 Freeway and Century Bl, and underground segments at Exposition Bl to 48th St and 59th Pl to 67th St and Airport south runways, while the remaining sections will be above ground.

Eight new stations will be built at Expo and Crenshaw, Crenshaw and Martin Luther King, Crenshaw and Vernon, Crenshaw and Slauson, Florence and West, Florence and La Brea, Florence and Hindry, and Aviation and Century.

The extension will offer the commuters in the Crenshaw and Los Angeles Airport corridor an alternative mode of transportation, allowing them to avoid crowded roadways.

The Crenshaw and LAX project will receive new light rail vehicles (LRVs) from Kinkisharyo International under P3010 contract. The new LRVs will meet the safety standards of local, state, and federal authorities.

Goals of the corridor creation

The Crenshaw Transit Corridor and LAX Transit Corridor Project would benefit the residents of the Crenshaw Corridor, Inglewood, Westchester and the LAX area in the South Los Angeles.

The project would stimulate economic development, and provide employment opportunities and environmental benefits across the county.

The Los Angeles Department of City Planning will prepare a streetscape plan for the Crenshaw Corridor, which will extend from Adams Boulevard to 79th Street, where street trees, street furniture, lighting and other facilities will be added to create a more amiable neighbourhood.

The department will also modify a plan that will provide Crenshaw Boulevard with a new street classification, and will explain in detail after the rail line is constructed as to how the public right-of-way will be allocated among roadway, pavements, and the light rail.

Around 7,800 people are expected to be employed during the construction of the Crenshaw and LAX Transit Corridor Project.