Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Metro Scores $669 Million To Finally Connect All Downtown Trains
One of the biggest headaches involving rail lines in L.A. is having to potentially get on two different trains to get to another part of downtown. Now, Metro is one step closer to making a downtown rail map that actually makes sense.
Today, they announced a $669 million grant plus a $160 million loan from the feds that will be put toward building an underground train through DTLA, connecting the Gold Line at the Little Tokyo station to the 7th/Metro Center station, where the Red, Purple, Blue and Expo lines meet. Metro approved of the connector in 2012, and will include three new stations in downtown: 1st/Central, 2nd/Broadway and 2nd/Hope.
The loan is part of Metro's America Fast Forward initiative, KPCC reports. Both the grant and the loan pave the way for construction to begin later this year, Metro says. You'll have to wait a little longer for things to get better, though: the project won't be completed until 2020. But once it's done, headaches will surely be alleviated throughout the city.
Senator Dianne Feinstein and Mayor Eric Garcetti were on hand during a press conference today to celebrate the government's help in making downtown a more interconnected area.
Support for LAist comes from
"Los Angeles is replete with half-finished transit," Garcetti said. "In downtown, we had to get up from one train and get on another train in order to go east-west or north-south. Well, when this is done, I'm happy to say, stay seated. You don't have to get up, you can continue riding on your train."
The train was originally planned to be above ground, but those plans were ditched due to negative public opinion, Metro says.
As an added bonus, this new connector will mean you can take a one-ticket trip from the SGV to Long Beach when the Gold Line's foothill extension is completed, or Santa Monica to East L.A. when the Expo is done. How cool is that?
Related:
Linking the Lines: Metro Approves DTLA Regional Connector Transit Corridor Project
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist