Central Los Angeles : Planned Rail Link Questioned

Politicians and a citizens transportation committee representing the Crenshaw district on Monday quizzed Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials about plans to build the proposed Crenshaw-Prairie Corridor rail line.

The proposed 11-mile route is not funded in the transit agency’s 20-year plan, but MTA officials said it is one of six second-tier lines on a waiting list for funding. A preliminary plan would establish a mass transit link from the MTA’s Red Line subway to the Crenshaw district, Inglewood and Hawthorne.

Frank Elmore, a member of the Citizens’ Transportation Oversight Committee and an area resident, said the Crenshaw community should not be cut out of plans to connect Los Angeles by mass transit.

“I think Crenshaw--being of a large black populace--would feel even more disenfranchisement and injustice,” Elmore said. “It would feed more of that kind of alienation.”

The committee, which attempts to educate South-Central residents on transportation funding and issues, organized the public meeting.

MTA officials said the agency is looking for ways to fund the Crenshaw line and will present a revised plan to MTA board members in December or January. Politicians urged residents to attend upcoming public hearings on the issue to lobby for the proposed corridor.