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Over Budget and Delayed: Full Expo Line Route Won't Open Next Year
The first phase of the Expo Line will be 8.6 miles of light rail track between downtown L.A. and Culver City
A train ride between downtown and Culver City will not happen in 2010, according to a report by the LA Times today. The delayed Expo Line project is $230 million over budget and if anything opens late next year or early 2011, it will open be eight stations from downtown to Crenshaw Boulevard. The remainder of the route--three stations to Culver City--would open on a later date, possibly late 2011 or 2012.
The culprit in this mess? "A variety of change orders, additions and increases in material costs," says the Times. Of that includes the strong opposition from the Fix Expo campaign, which has fought for increased pedestrian improvements.
"They've known that these street-level crossings in our community and next to our schools were opposed by our community since the inception of this project," said Damien Goodmon of Fix Expo to the paper. "The reality is this project was sold as being cheap and built fast, and the fact is neither of those points has come true."
Metro's website still claims the line in full will open in 2010.
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