Readers React: Metro’s Crenshaw Line extension could solve many of West L.A.’s traffic woes. Build it now

To the editor: Building a north-south light rail line on the Westside is not just a West Hollywood issue; it affects hundreds of thousands of us throughout the Los Angeles basin.

Where you travel to is just as important as where you travel from. The last time I tried, it took nearly two hours to commute up La Cienega Boulevard from Hermosa Beach to a morning meeting in West Hollywood. By contrast, it will take about 40 minutes on the extended Crenshaw Line.

This project will will not only produce more boardings per mile than any light rail line in the country, it will also reduce regional vehicle miles traveled on our hopelessly congested West L.A. streets and freeways. We cannot possibly hope to move forward economically or socially if we’re immobilized in gridlock.

I know of no better bang for our transit buck than building a light rail line within the next decade from Torrance to Hollywood. Completing the project in 2047 would make us wait too long.

Bob Wolfe, Hermosa Beach

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To the editor: As a homeowner for 27 years in Leimert Park, it was very heartening to read of the plan for the the Crenshaw Line extension. This line will connect me to the restaurants and events in Hollywood and around the Los Angeles County Museum of Art that I frequent.

I fully support building this extension as soon as possible and developing high-density housing around the stations. I live near the Crenshaw Line, which is under construction, and I can see the benefits of this project not only for myself but also for my friends and colleagues who in live in the San Fernando Valley and elsewhere.

This project would connect us together like no other Metro project I’ve seen.

Kathleen Smith, Los Angeles

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