Westside : Light-Rail Route Proposal

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter has asked county transportation officials to study changing the proposed route of a light-rail line from Los Angeles International Airport north along Lincoln Boulevard to Marina del Rey to one that would proceed north along Sepulveda Boulevard to the San Diego Freeway in Culver City.

Galanter’s request comes as the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission is preparing an environmental impact report for the route along Lincoln Boulevard. Steve Lantz, a commission spokesman, said staffs from the commission and from Galanter’s office will meet within a few weeks to discuss the matter.

Lantz said preliminary engineering studies would have to be performed for the Sepulveda Boulevard route before an environmental study could take place.

In a letter to the commission, Galanter said she wants the new route studied because it may serve more people if she is successful in shifting the bulk of the planned Playa Vista project southeast of Marina del Rey from Lincoln Boulevard to Sepulveda Boulevard. She said the new route also would avoid any potential effect on the Ballona wetlands.