Green Line - LAX extension: City Council pays Park N' Ride; puts down a parking lot

Green Line - LAX extension: City Council pays Park N' Ride; puts down a parking lot

Green Line - LAX extension: City Council pays Park N' Ride; puts down a parking lot

July 24, 12:54 AM

Can L.A. turn dotted lines into rail lines?

As if to head off my upcoming pet peeve about the Green Line and its terminus interruptus 2 miles south of LAX, city and airport officials have made three recent moves toward closing that yawning commuter gap:

1. On July 10, the city council authorized a $126.5 million purchase of the Park One parking lot east of Terminal One (reversing their own previous decision)
2. On July 21, the council approved a feasibility study to determine if the Park One site could function as a light rail station
3. Also on July 21, the L.A. Board of Airport Commissioners gave the OK to a $1.4 million contract for developing LAX ground transportation plans, including the advocated extension of the Green Line from its stop at Aviation & I-105 to an airport-adjacent parcel

Green Line History

The possibility of finding the political will and the money (Measure R and its 30-year/$40 billion) to bring the rail line where it should have gone when construction began in 1987 is a sharp turn in a twisted history. The Green Line is a 20-mile light rail line that runs from Norwalk to El Segundo, mainly down the center of the Century Freeway. Sometimes referred to as a train that runs from "nowhere to nowhere", the line that passes 2 miles south of LAX at its western terminus has an eastern end that snubs the busy Metrolink station of Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs, also 2 miles away.

Conspiracy or Destiny?

Original plans for the Green Line actually brought the train to the airport. LA World Airports had wanted to incorporate the light rail into its planned major airport renovation, but a cabal of concerns -- about overhead lines interfering with planes, airport expansion impacting communities, and commuters shunning pricey LAX parking lots -- conspired to bring about the odd compromise that is today's Green Line route. That once-and-future plan for a true airport rail line stands stumped but sturdy in the form of two concrete ramps west of the Aviation/LAX station. Perhaps they'll see some action if the city has the vision.
For more info: You can see what advocates of the Green Line extension are saying and doing at the Green Line Coalition website, or download a route map PDF of all Metro routes.

Author: David Salper