State Awards $35.3 Million to Expo Line Project

Metro officials announced an award of $35.3 million in state bond money for the second phase of the Expo Line, the light rail line that will run from downtown Los Angeles through Culver City to Santa Monica.

According to Metro officials, the money was expected and already part of the budget to build the second phase of the project. The funds are from Proposition 1B bonds that were approved by voters in 2006, and are administered by the California Transportation Commission.

The does not appear to be endangered by any potential cuts in federal funding now being debated in Congress. However, such cuts, if they occur, could have a negative impact on Metro's ability to run the line.

“Federal funding could impact our ability to operate the line and its associated bus services, and our ability to provide betterments, like the bike lane along the right-of-way.  It is extremely unlikely that a cut in federal funds would impact the construction of the line itself," wrote David Yale, Metro Deputy Executive Officer, Regional Programming in an email to Patch.

The U.S. Jobs Act, which recently stalled in the U.S. Senate, contained provisions that would provide additional funding to the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA). The program offers loans to cities for programs such as the Expo Line.

The Expo Line was one of eight projects in Los Angeles County that received funds—including the Alameda Corridor East project—which will take busy Union Pacific train tracks off street level at 70 crossings through the San Gabriel Valley, and the Orange Line busway expansion to Chatsworth.

Phase I of the Expo Line is expected to open to La Cienega Boulevard in the late part of this year, with the Culver City station expected to open in April 2012. . Phase II of the project, which will complete the segment from Culver City to Santa Monica, is expected to open in 2015.

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