Crenshaw/LAX Line

The project will include nine new Metro stations, including an infill station that will not open until several years after the rest of the line:[13][9]

Station	Date Opening	City/ Neighborhood	Major connections and notes
Expo/Crenshaw	2021 (planned)	Los Angeles (Jefferson Park)	Connects with  E Line
Martin Luther King Jr.		Los Angeles (Baldwin Hills/Leimert Park)
Leimert Park		Los Angeles (Leimert Park)
Hyde Park		Los Angeles (Hyde Park)
Fairview Heights
Downtown Inglewood		Inglewood	Future connection to Inglewood Transit Connector
Westchester/Veterans
Aviation/96th Street	2023 (planned)[14]	Los Angeles (Westchester)	Future connection to LAX Automated People Mover (elevated)
Aviation/Century	2021 (planned)

Operating plan approved for the Crenshaw/LAX Line

The question of how the new segment would be integrated into the Metro Rail system was the subject of some controversy in 2018 as completion of the project seemed looming. Early proposals had suggested that a new line would operate between Expo/Crenshaw station in the north and Aviation/Century station in the south or possibly extend to Redondo Beach station once the stations west of Aviation/LAX station could accommodate 3-car trains, with the stretch southwest of the wye continuing to be served by the C Line as well.[15] An additional service would have connected Norwalk station to the new Aviation/Century station and planned 96th Street Transit station, as well as the Airport Metro Connector.[16]

The service plan would have required trains passing all three directions through the wye connecting the new and existing infrastructure, which Metro staff felt would unduly wear down the points. Instead, in 2018 Metro proposed a service plan that would see the newly opened segment connected to the bulk of the current C Line; the southwest segment of the C Line in the South Bay would operate as a separate shuttle between Redondo Beach and the new Aviation/Century station. The arrangement was meant to provide a seamless rail option for the many passengers who currently transfer between the C Line and north to south bus lines in the area, as well as operationally combine the Norwalk–LAX and Crenshaw/Expo–LAX legs, which have matching capacity needs, rather than combining either with the more sparsely used Redondo Beach leg.[17]

However, the new plan was met with resistance from some board members, particularly Supervisor Janice Hahn, because it would require South Bay passengers to make multiple transfers to complete trips then possible with only one transfer.[18] A faction of the Metro board led by Hahn proposed a one-year pilot of an alternative routing scheme under which one line would travel from Norwalk station to Expo/Crenshaw station and another from Redondo Beach station to Willowbrook/Rosa Parks station. The proposal, dubbed C-3, was approved by the Metro board on December 6, 2018.[19] This option will entail an additional $10 million annual operating cost over Metro's initial proposal, in large part because a substantial segment of the current C Line between Willowbrook and Aviation/LAX will see three-minute headways at peak hours. The adopted proposal will also limit the potential length of trains on the new segment to two cars due to power constraints; it will preclude a one-seat ride from the South Bay to LAX[20] but maintains the ability of South Bay passengers to transfer directly to the J and A Lines.

The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) describes several alternatives, as well as "Design Options" (optional features with additional cost).[23] Many other alignments were considered previously, but eliminated due to lack of feasibility or benefit.

The following table summarizes key characteristics of each alternative:

* in 2008 dollars.

The route had several segments under consideration for grade-separations. The LRT Baseline (DEIR) included a minimal set of grade separations: the design options specified additional grade separations. The locally preferred alternative (LPA) adopted by the Metro Board included the LRT Baseline plus some additional grade separations (e.g. Design Options 1, 2 and 4). Other grade separations were also still under consideration. All grade separations are subject to the Metro Grade Crossing Policy.[27]

The following table describes the Crenshaw Corridor's route, divided into segments with potential grade-separations:

Notes:

• DO1: Design Option 1, $11 million. Approved and in LPA.
• DO2: Design Option 2, $16 million. Approved and in LPA.
• DO3: Design Option 3, $13 million. Studied; ultimately not adopted.
• DO4: Design Option 4, $29 million. Approved and in LPA.
• DO6: Design Option 6, $236 million. Studied; added to project in 2013.
• PMH: Study of grade-separating (underground) the line through Park Mesa Heights between 48th and 60th Streets, requested by County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. See section below.

Metro staff studied and ranked 16 potential sites for the required maintenance facility.[28] Through several rounds of screening, all but five were eliminated.

In March 2011, a Supplemental DEIS/R was released to the public, specifically related to the maintenance facility. This study was completed due to changes to capacity requirements of the Crenshaw Line. Three of the screened sites were carried forward into this study, and one new site was added.[29] The four site options studied in the Supplemental DEIS/R (from north to south) are:

Following the public comment period in April 2011, staff recommended adoption of the Arbor Vitae/Bellanca site, since it had no public objections and all environmental impacts could be mitigated.[25]

In 2010, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas requested study of a tunnel through Park Mesa Heights on Crenshaw Boulevard between 48th and 59th Streets. Metro staff studied the option and recommended against it. Staff concluded the option offers minimal benefit but high cost. The additional cost for the tunnel would be $219 million, or $167 million with Slauson station removed. Instead that section of the line will be at-grade level.[30][31]

In May 2011, Supervisor Ridley-Thomas asked the Metro Board to vote on a motion requiring construction of both the tunnel and the subway station in Leimert Park Plaza (Crenshaw/Vernon). The Board voted to include an underground station at Leimert Park and approved the station only under the condition that the entire project can be completed within its original budget.[32]

In May 2013, the Metro Board voted 10-1 to officially include an underground station at Leimert Park (Crenshaw/Vernon, at Crenshaw Blvd and 43rd Place), and another at-grade station at Hindry Ave (Florence/Hindry), in the Crenshaw/LAX Line project.[6]

In 2014, Metro approved the planning and scoping of an infill station at 96th and Aviation, which would connect to the proposed LAX Train automated people mover system to the airport terminals.[14][33] The station would be less than half a mile north of the under construction Aviation/Century station, and would serve as Metro Rail's main gateway to the airport itself, while the Aviation/Century station would serve destinations along the busy Century Boulevard corridor. The proposed station would be served by Green Line trains as well as trains along the new Crenshaw/LAX Line.[34]

In December 2009, the Metro Board selected a Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA), and in 2010 Metro conducted the Final Environmental Study for this alternative. This alternative included the LRT Baseline alignment, plus Design Options 1, 2 and 4. At this time, Metro also authorized further study of the remaining design options.

In selecting this alternative, Metro staff eliminated the BRT (bus rapid transit) alternative, stating that it was too slow to provide much benefit, and that it generally lacked public support.

Metro staff also concluded that the northernmost portion of the Crenshaw Corridor between Exposition and Wilshire was too expensive to include in the project if implemented as light-rail. Thus, study and implementation of that segment was deferred, to be considered separately in the future as a northern extension ("Phase 2") of the Crenshaw Line (see section below).

Metro estimated the light-rail line will initially have a daily ridership between 13,000 and 16,000, would cost $1.3 billion - $1.8 billion (in 2008 dollars), would take five years to complete construction, and would generate 7,800 construction jobs over this period.[23]

Measure R assumes a project cost of $1.470 billion (2008). Its sales tax revenues will provide up to $1.207 billion (82% of the budgeted cost). The remaining $263 million is expected to come from local funding. The Crenshaw Corridor project did not seek state or federal funding.[35] The LPA (including Design Options 1, 2 and 4) was estimated to cost $1.306 billion, which was within budget. If Metro were to include the remaining three design options, the cost would rise to $1.766 billion, exceeding the Measure R project cost by nearly $300 million, requiring cost deferments.

In October 2010, the Federal government of the United States awarded the Crenshaw Corridor a $546 million loan, to be paid back by Measure R tax revenue. The loan allowed pre-construction for the project to begin in summer 2012. The final Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor budget was $1.763-billion,[6] as it included most of the design options. At that time, project completion was expected in 2019.[1] Ultimately, the LPA, with the addition of Design Option 6 and the underground Leimert Park station, is budgeted at $1.766 billion.[6]

The final design of the first phase (the original project line south of Exposition Blvd to LAX) would determine how the Phase 2 project could or would connect to Phase 1. The original locally preferred alternative (LPA) for the Crenshaw/LAX Line from the draft environmental impact study (Draft EIS/EIR) specified an at-grade station at the Phase 1 Expo/Crenshaw terminus, with the Leimert Park tunnel ending several blocks south of that, near 39th Street. If Phase 1 had been built per the LPA, then Phase 2 would have require the building of a new tunnel with a connection near 39th Street. This would have required the north end of the Leimert Park tunnel to be outfitted with knockout panels to allow for the possible future extension north.[42]

Metro also studied "Design Option 6" for Phase 1, which would extend the Leimert Park tunnel north to the line's northern terminus at Exposition, with an underground station at Crenshaw/Exposition. This design option was selected so that Phase 2 can connect to Phase 1 directly at the Crenshaw/Exposition station's tunnels. This design option increased the cost of the original Phase 1 project by $236 million.[43]