LAX officials vote unanimously to build new road into airport

The governing board of LAX voted unanimously Thursday to appropriate more than $1 billion to build long-planned elevated roadways officials said will separate airport-bound vehicles from local traffic.

Supporters say the roadways will make it safer and more efficient to get in and out of LAX.

“We have multiple paths in and out of the airport, and each and one of those creates pinch points and traffic jams, particularly along Sepulveda [Boulevard],” Emery Molnar, an LAX executive, said to the airport Board of Commissioners before the vote.

Before the vote, commissioners heard from advocates and people living near the airport who questioned the need for the project amid lower-than-projected passenger levels at LAX.

“I think this a project that was maybe well conceived 10 years ago, but it’s not necessary,” Cord Thomas, a Westchester resident, said to the commissioners during the public comment period.

They also urged airport officials to first finish the Automated People Mover, the train that has been beset by delays and racked up hundreds of millions in cost overruns.

Background on the project

The project involves constructing or replacing 4.4 miles of roads that enter and exit LAX.

Critics reject the idea that the roadways will ease local congestion.

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Courtesy Los Angeles World Airports

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The total cost is $1.5 billion, according to airport officials. Before today’s vote, the Board had previously approved more than $600 million for early construction work.

Overall, it’s a small amount of LAX’s massive $30 billion investment in capital improvements to the airport.

Molnar said the roads entering the airport are scheduled to be finished in the months before the 2028 Games but roads exiting the airport, landscaping and other project elements won’t be done until spring of 2030.

Why is it controversial?

In addition to lower levels of passenger traffic, critics point to LAX estimates that the roadways will induce more driving, likening the potential impacts of the project to those seen when the 405 Freeway was expanded.

Kenneth Ehrenberg, a captain of the U.S. Space Force and resident of Westchester, told airport commissioners that the project doesn’t address the principle bottleneck for cars, which he said is the pick-up and drop-off areas in the horseshoe.

Public commenters during the meeting also said if the history of the Automated People Mover is any indicator, the project won’t finish on time and will end up costing more than airport officials planned.

One of the two companies selected to build the roadways, FlatironDragados, is also a member of the consortium of companies known as LINXS that the city hired back in 2018 to design and build the train that will eventually shuttle travelers between the airport terminals, car rental center and newly opened LAX Metro Transit Center.

LINXS and the city have thus far had a contentious relationship that has delayed the train from its scheduled opening in 2023 to some time next year and resulted in the project costing nearly $880 million more than initially planned to settle disputes.

After today’s vote, it’s unclear what a path forward looks like for people who were urging the commissioners to pause the project. The roadways project has support from the local council district, labor groups and the business district that represents hotels and parking facilities adjacent to LAX.