At the November 8 election, Los Angeles residents voted in favor of Measure M, a half-cent transportation tax, which, according to Metro, will generate $860 million per year. The funds are designed to help improve public transit, stimulate the economy and provide jobs.
At the Century City Chamber of Commerce Transportation Summit on Nov. 1, Director of Community and Municipal Affairs for the L.A. County Transportation Authority Jody Litvak, said the Measure M funding would allow Section 2 of the Purple Line, which will end at Century City, to be completed by 2024, two years ahead of schedule.
The goal, Litvak said, would be to have the subway to Century City up and running in time for the 2024 Olympic games, which Los Angeles is bidding on.
Section 1 of the Purple Line from Wilshire/Western to Wilshire/La Cinema is currently under construction and Litvak said the line from La Cienega to the station that will be at Constellation and Avenue of the Stars in Century City (Section 2) is “close to construction,” with Section 3 to Westwood Village and the VA Hospital slated for completion in 2035.
Litvak said pre-construction for the Century City stop is underway. A State lawsuit against the construction brought by the City of Beverly Hills and the Beverly Hills Unified School District has now been finalized with Metro prevailing. However, in the Federal lawsuit brought by Beverly Hills, the judge is requiring Metro to undertake a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.
“That is ongoing right now,” Litvak said. “We will probably release the Draft SEIS early in the New Year and we hope you all comment on it.” Review public comments on the draft are expected in the spring of 2017 with the final draft hoping to be published in the summer of 2017.
Litvak also noted that Metro is very close to receiving the full funding grant for the public matching funds from the Federal government for Section 2, within the next month or so, once it is approved by Congress. “If I have anything to say about it we’re going to do [the signing of that grant] right here in Century City and as close to Constellation Avenue as we can,” Litvak said.
The current pre-construction in Century City consists of relocating telephone lines, installing traffic control devices, and holding temporary street closures along Constellation Avenue. Pre construction began in September and is expected to go on into early 2017, Litvak said, with most of the work being done at night Sunday through Thursday.
