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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.
"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?
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Related:
Linking the Lines: Metro Approves DTLA Regional Connector Transit Corridor Project
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