by Garth Meyer
Metro released its final Environmental Impact Report Sept. 11 for the proposed light rail expansion further into the South Bay.
Interested parties now pore over the 62-page document, including a grass-roots group in North Redondo Beach who oppose one possible route; along a railroad right-of-way between neighborhoods. The other route studied would be built on elevated tracks down Hawthorne Boulevard.
Either path stems from the Redondo Beach (Marine) station, continuing on to a planned Torrance Transit Center.
A 19-minute trip to LAX from Torrance would be one result, Metro states.
The Environmental Impact Report, in its summary for the right-of-way option, lists noise and vibration during construction as a “Significant and Unavoidable Impact.”
For “No Impact/Less Than Significant Impact” it lists transportation during construction, air quality and greenhouse gas emissions, hydrology and water quality, to cultural resources during construction and operation.
The category of “Less Than Significant Impact With Mitigation” cites aesthetics, noise and vibration, biological resources and tribal cultural resources during construction, to name a few.
Similarly, the Hawthorne Boulevard route also has noise and vibration during construction listed as a “Significant and Unavoidable Impact,” with other items marked as “Less Than Significant Impact” or “Less Than Significant Impact With Mitigation.”
If the Metro board of directors certifies the final Environmental Impact Report – it will go before them this fall – construction on a chosen route could start sometime in 2027, with the line opening in 2036.
Initial funding would come from voter-approved Measures R and M. As much or more than a billion dollars would still need to be secured for either route.
“This project represents a major step forward for the South Bay and for the entire Metro system,” said Fernando Dutra, Metro board chair and Whittier city councilman. “By extending rail service to Torrance, we are giving more Angelenos access to good jobs, faster commutes and cleaner air. We look forward to working hand-in-hand with our community partners to ensure that this project best serves the needs of the community now and for generations to come.”
A third option is to not extend the line at all, in favor of high-frequency bus routes.
The City of Redondo Beach has hired an attorney to look at whether Metro met their obligation in the Report, in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
“My conclusion is, for an agency purportedly focused on equity, nothing could be more inequitable than the right-of-way option (ROW),” said Zein Obagi, Jr., Redondo Beach city councilman. “Taking open space, old trees and private property in Lawndale from residences, and in Redondo Beach, residents, hundreds of seniors, subjected to more than a half decade of construction, to run light rail next to fuel-carrying freight trains above fuel-carrying pipelines. For a route that’s not the most ridership.”
Last May, the Metro board voted unanimously to wait on selecting a route, citing a need for more study and further engagement by Metro with residents.
As for the ROW option, at the crossings for 170th and 182nd Street, tracks would likely go under the road – to cut down on noise, improve safety and eliminate traffic delays for motorists and pedestrians.
Metro also has proposed changes to the existing freight line on the right-of-way for safety and reduced noise.
Overall, Metro projects the K-Line extension would add 11,500 daily trips, bringing in 1.49 million new riders each year, cutting vehicle miles on local roads by 19.5 million, also per year.
“It will link local communities to our expanding transit system and provide a faster, more reliable alternative to sitting in traffic,” said Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins.
If the board certifies the final E.I.R. and chooses a route, the project will go ahead with design and engineering.
Councilman Obagi, Jr., spoke at a meeting last Sunday, Sept. 14, put on by South Bay Environmental Alliance, at William Green Park in Lawndale.
“To educate residents about what we know about the project… and those neighbors not realizing the train’s coming,” he said. “… For X amount of renters, they can live somewhere else that’s not a construction zone. That’s displacement. I encourage everyone to speak in favor of Hawthorne Boulevard, or the high-frequency bus, which has the least environmental impact.”
“Hopefully the Metro staff is now approaching this with an open mind,” he said.
The final E.I.R. does not offer a choice of route, but just lays out the impacts of each.
For the next step, the Metro board will consider this at a regular meeting, likely in October.
“Another bus coming from Redondo Beach, I believe,” Obagi, Jr., said, referring to last May’s meeting when the city chartered a bus, residents filling it to go speak at Metro headquarters in Los Angeles. “At least another bus or two from Lawndale.”
At last Sunday’s meeting at the Lawndale park were representatives from County Supervisor (and Metro boardmember) Holly Mitchell’s office and Congresswoman Maxine Watters.’
“I’m not confident they are going to start listening to residents, after two years of residents saying the same things,” Obagi, Jr., said. “I hope they’re not just listening, but heeding what the residents say.”
Metro took in more than 2,000 public comments in preparing for the final Environmental Impact Report.
It is available online at metro.net/clineext, or in print at the Redondo Beach North Library (2000 Artesia Boulevard).
Metro’s specific website on the project is: www.metro.net/projects/green-line-extension. ER
Save ROW by pushing YES. The right of way plan by Metro does preserve old growth trees despite the claims by the opponents. After watching video links online about the final EIR on YouTube, I see it will create a park with bike trails, safety crossings, sound abatement, and segregated rail traffic. My wife also attended that meeting to hear them out but I wasn’t very impressed about their new stance on Bus Rapid Transit as their new preferred alternative…a weird pivot from their expensive Hawthorne plan push. I feel decades of foot dragging and stalling over this sensible ROW plan is causing needless delays over what is pretty much land owned by the railroads who don’t really have any plans or motivation to upgrade that space anyhow. At least with this metro plan, that railroad land becomes a dedicated shared space for real where the public can access, complete with real fencing to separate the rail traffic and the kids. Let’s be real…railroad traffic was always here in the South Bay and isn’t going anywhere no matter how hard you oppose it. Everyone benefits from better rail transit and yes everyone along the route as well with upgrades that never existed before. Make the best of this compromise and let’s go!
Railroad traffic along the road is only one or two trains a day. With this project, two more tracks will be laid down right beside it, destroying large heritage trees, removing green space, and destroying a tiny neighborhood. This is not a compromise for the over 1100 families that are directly adjacent to this project. And yes, these are families who likely depend on mass transit, and are simply asking for the project to be moved over three blocks to Hawthorne Boulevard rather than cut through their disadvantage neighborhood. The electric buses have always been in the mix, but Metro likely ignored them because they aren’t as flashy. Now, many environmental groups are criticizing Metro for not increasing their electric buses. These buses would keep Metro from spending our tax money on expensive rail projects, secure flexible & clean mass transit, WITHOUT decimating neighborhoods. Have some compassion!
The proposed light rail extension would make its way down the right of way adjacent to homes in Redondo Beach ‘s councilnanic district 3. Paige Kaluderovic represents this residential area, but not a single word in this article from her about the project. Did your reporter feel that her position on the matter was not important enough to be considered in this article ? Or, was she ducking the issue because she just doesn’t care about trains traveling just feet from the property lines of residents who live in her council district ?
Metro has completely ignored the health impacts of their noisy 24/7/365 project. Their reason “there’s no one-site-fit-all” formula for the damages. Metro is so lazy and the FEIR is so defective ….
This article is missing information.
Is there an EIR for the Hawthorne Boulevard option?
Where is the Hawthorne diagram?
This “cartoon“ picture shows only the widest part of the ROW and does not show what happens on the Lawndale ROW when the distance narrows to only 75 feet! There is no road between the houses and the ROW here, so the trains can be less than 10 feet from a long line of properties!