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In December, the Metro Board of Directors approved the final environmental studies for the planned Metro-LAX connector station, moving the project into its design stage. Now, new renderings of the connector between the Crenshaw and Green lines to the airport’s future Automated People Mover have been revealed.
The $600 million connector comes as part of a larger $5.5 billion Landside Access Modernization Program approved by the Los Angeles City Planning Commission and the Board of Airport Commissioners in March to reduce traffic congestion in and around LAX.
"Planning for communities in Los Angeles means giving careful consideration to projects which address essential quality-of-life and environmental challenges," David Ambroz, president of the Planning Commission, said, reports the City News Service. “My fellow commissioners and I fully support LAMP, a sustainable transportation system that offers safe and efficient options, while balancing the needs of the airports surrounding communities."
According to Urbanize LA, the connector station will sit on a 9.5 acre site located one mile east of the airport’s central terminal. Furthermore, the station will have three rail platforms, a bike hub, pick-up/drop-off zones, separate bus and pedestrian plazas, and a central “hub” building, notes Curbed LA.
As excited as we all are to have a modernized, public transit-accessible airport, don’t hold your breath for the project to be done tomorrow. Under Measure M funding, groundbreaking on the station is scheduled for 2018/2019, with a possible completion date between 2021 and 2023.
