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Politics & Government

Expo Line Public Meetings Begin Today

The first in a series of two meetings is today, giving the public a chance to comment on the extension of the line from Culver City to Santa Monica.

As passenger trains are being readied to run between downtown Los Angeles and Culver City, public meetings will be held next week on plans to extend the Expo  Line west to Santa Monica.

The meetings will allow people to see and comment on preliminary designs for the western phase of rapid rail service, to be built largely on the railroad right of-way laid down in 1875 for steam train service from Los Angeles to the beach.

Service on the already-built eastern phase of the is promised to start soon by Metro, and plans are underway to extend the eastern end from Figueroa Street under Bunker Hill to Union Station.

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Residents in the tony Cheviot Hills section are split on the second phase of rail service, with some favoring it and others in court in a so-far-unsuccessful effort to try to block it. Plans for the passenger trains to cross Overland Avenue and Westwood Boulevard using signals and gates, instead of a bridge, are particularly objectionable to some residents there.

But Metro won approval last week from the California Public Utilities Commission for its plans to use flashing lights, bells and sidewalk gates at several busy streets, including Overland, Westwood and Barrington Avenue in West Los Angeles, and at most intersections along Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica.

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New bridges will be used to fly the tracks over Sepulveda, Sawtelle and Pico boulevards near the Santa Monica (405) Freeway in West L.A. Sawtelle will be buried in a slight underpass to make way for the new train bridge, which must wedge under the adjacent 405 viaduct.

A bridge will also elevate the trains at Cloverfield and Olympic Boulevards in Santa Monica. Final testing and shakedown runs are taking place this month along the Expo Line from the Staples Center area south to Exposition Park, and then west along Exposition Boulevard to La Brea Avenue at Jefferson Boulevard.  The last mile, to Robertson Boulevard in Culver City, is already built but Metro is a few months late on the testing and rollout schedule.

Drawings of the proposed crossings, rail alignment and passenger stations for the second phase will be shown to the public at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services gymnasium, 3200 Motor Avenue, in Cheviot Hills.

The second meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

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