By Lookout Staff
January 30 – A study of four alternative routes for the proposed Expo Light Rail Line from Culver City to Santa Monica found that following the existing Expo right of way through West Los Angeles to Santa Monica -- rather than diverting the line to Venice Boulevard -- posed the fewest hurdles.
The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) released by the Expo Authority Wednesday also found that once the line hits Santa Monica, the least problematic route would likely travel down Olympic Boulevard to a terminal Downtown.
Alternative 1 – which would follow the right of way to Olympic then down the boulevard to 4th Street -- “offers the greatest opportunity to reduce regional vehicle miles traveled, serve to expand the existing transit system and increase regional connectivity,” officials wrote.
It also would result in “the least amount of traffic disruption during construction,” according to officials.
Alternative 2 – which would diverge onto Colorado Avenue east of 17th Street – “offers the next best reduction of these factors for Los Angeles County and the Expo study area but does not perform as well in the region,” officials wrote.
The two alternatives that divert the line to Venice before following Sepulveda Boulevard to West LA then entering Santa Monica -- one via Colorado, the other Olympic -- “do not perform as well.”
“Alternatives 1 and 2 do not result in any traffic impacts that could not be mitigated,” the report stated. “The other two alternatives would result in impacts to two intersections that could not be mitigated due to right of way constraints.”
Alternative 1 also would require the fewest property acquisitions, with a total of 62, and only would displace five residents, compared with Alternative 2, which would require 83 total acquisitions and displace three residents.
Alternative 3 would require 194 total acquisitions and would displace an estimated 256 residents, while Alternative 4 would require 215 total property acquisitions and displace an estimated 254 residents.
Homeowners in Cheviot Hills lobbied for the last two alternatives, which would divert the light rail line away from their community.
The first two alternatives, however, pose some problems.
Traveling down Olympic Boulevard would require chopping down the iconic Coral trees within the median, while taking Colorado “would result in traffic disruption on Colorado Avenue during construction,” officials wrote.
