Metro to host community meetings for West Santa Ana Corridor

Metro will host four community meetings between beginning next week to discuss the West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor project.

The community meetings will give residents and others a chance to learn about the project. The agency is also seeking public input for the project’s Locally Preferred Alternative — a planned 14.8-mile rail segment from Slauson/A Line (Blue) Line to Pioneer Station in the cities of Los Angeles, Vernon, Huntington Park, Bell, Cudahy, South Gate, Downey, Paramount, Bellflower and Artesia.

The route was chosen for further analysis as part of Metro’s final environmental impact statement/environmental impact report.

Participants at the meetings will receive additional information, project updates and engage with Metro’s project team for the corridor.

Metro’s West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor project is a 19-mile light rail line that will “provide greater transit connectivity from Los Angeles Union Station to the Southeastern Los Angeles County communities.”

“The project seeks to address the limited mobility and transit options currently available in Southeast Los Angeles County,” Metro said in a statement. “Eventually, the new line will connect to the Metro C (Green) Line, Metro A (Blue) Line, and the larger regional transit network in L.A. County.”

Community meetings will occur in-person and through Zoom, and offer the same information, on the following days and times:

— June 5, from 6 to 8 p.m., at Paramount’s Progress Park, located at 15500 Downey Ave.;

— June 12, from 6 to 8 p.m., at Bell Community Center, located at 6250 Pine Ave.;

— June 14, from 6 to 7 p.m. via Zoom, which can be accessed at us06web.zoom.us/j/89887357114#success; and

— June 15, from 6 to 8 p.m., at Artesia’s Albert O. Little Community Center, located at 18750 Clarkdale Ave.

Metro expects the project’s final EIR to be submitted for certification by its Board of Directors in spring 2024. The Federal Transit Administration is also anticipated to issue a Record of Decision for the final EIR/EIS by the same time next year, too.

The ROD will authorize Metro to proceed with design, land acquisition and construction based on the availability of funds.

Metro anticipates the project’s groundbreaking in 2025, and the project is expected to open to the public in 2035.

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