Sepulveda Pass Transit Corridor

The Sepulveda Pass Transit Corridor is a two phased planned transit corridor connecting the Los Angeles Basin to the San Fernando Valley through the Sepulveda Pass in Los Angeles, CA by supplementing the existing freeway. The corridor would partly parallel I-405, and proposed alternatives include light rail, heavy rail, monorail, or rubber-tired metro connecting the Orange Line in the Valley to the Purple Line and Expo Line on the Westside.[1]

The Sepulveda Pass Interstate 405 commute between Interstate 10 and CA Highway 101 lies along the busiest highway corridor in the United States, serving 379,000 vehicles per day.[2] The most popular idea has been a rail transit tunnel, as the rugged terrain of the pass makes surface and elevated alternatives almost equally expensive.[3]

Overview

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has $7.8 billion in funds available for construction planned to begin in 2026. The plan included in the Measure M transportation funding measure is to build improvements in three stages: additional lanes to be used for express bus service to open by 2028, an 8.8-mile transit project between the Orange Line’s Van Nuys Station and the Purple Line Extension’s Wilshire/Westwood Station by 2035, and a planned extension to LAX with a 2059 completion date.[4][5] In April 2017, Metro issued a Request for Proposals to study alternatives, and several companies sent unsolicited proposals to accelerate the project via public-private partnerships.[6] The project's timeline is expected to be accelerated under the Twenty-eight by '28 inititative.[7]

Proposed routings and modes

In June 2018, Metro released its initial set of rail concepts for the corridor. All of the proposals provided connections between the Orange Line (at Sepulveda, Van Nuys, or both) and the Expo Line (at Expo/Sepulveda or Expo/Bundy), as well as to the Westside extension of the Purple Line, currently under construction, and to the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor, currently being planned. The proposals fell into four categories:

  • A standalone heavy rail line, mostly underground but possibly with some elevated sections in the Valley.
  • A continuation of the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor light rail, mostly underground but with a possible elevated spur to Sepulveda station.
  • A monorail or rubber-tired metro line, underground on the Westside, elevated in the Valley, and running at grade or elevated along the 405.
  • An further extention of the heavy rail Purple Line, with a wye that would allow direct connections between the Valley and the Expo Line as well as from both to downtown. This option would be mostly underground but could include elevated sections in the Valley.[8]

Initial alternatives analysis

Phase One

The June 2018 concepts released by Metro for phase one included six alternative plans to be considered. These included different alignments, as well as several modes of transit (heavy rail, light rail, monorail, and rubber-tire metro). The alternatives considered in the Draft Environmental Impact Report north to south routes from the Valley to Expo Line are:

DEIR Alternative[9] Description New trips
(daily)		 Estimated cost
(billions)
Alternative 1: HRT[10] Connecting the Orange Line's Van Nuys station to the Purple Line extension (at Westwood/UCLA or Westwood/VA) and the Expo Line (at Expo/Sepulveda station or Expo/Bundy) via heavy rail transit (HRT) tunnel under the Santa Monica Mountains TBD TBD
Alternative 2: HRT[11] Similar to Alternative 1 on the Westside, but connecting to the Orange Line's Sepulveda station and to the planned East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor at Victory or Sherman Way station in the Valley TBD TBD
Alternative 3: LRT[12] Continuing a light-rail transit (LRT) version of the planned East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor south past the Orange Line's Van Nuys station, with a similar alignment to Alternatives 1 and 2 on the Westside TBD TBD
Alternative 4: LRT[13] Similar to Alternative 3, but with a light rail spur connecting to the Orange Line's Sepulveda station TBD TBD
Alternative 5: Monorail or rubber-tire mtero[14] An elevated monorail or rubber-tired metro in the Valley connecting to the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor (at Sherman Way, Victory, or Van Nuys) and Orange Line (at Sepulveda or Van Nuys), then traversing the Sepulveda Pass at grade or on an elevated structure, and following an underground alignment on the Westside similar to Alternatives 1 through 4 TBD TBD
Alternative 6: Purple Line Extension[15] Extending the Purple Line west underground from its currently planned terminus at Westwood/VA, splitting into two branches: one turning south to connect to the Expo Line at Expo/Bundy, and one turning north under the Santa Monica Mountains to connect to the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor (at Sherman Way, Victory, or Van Nuys) and Orange Line (at Sepulveda or Van Nuys), with a wye allowing for direct connection between the Valley and the Expo Line TBD TBD

The following table shows all potential metro stations, and the alternatives for which they apply:

Station Options [16] Alt 1 Alt 2 Alt 3 Alt 4 Alt 5 Alt 6
ESFVTC's Sherman Way (planned) - × - - × ×
ESFVTC's Victory Blvd (planned) - × - - × ×
Orange Line's Van Nuys Station × - × × × ×
Orange Line's Sepulveda station × × - × × ×
Westwood/UCLA Station (planned) × × × × × -
Westwood/VA Station (planned) - × × × × ×
Expo/Sepulveda station × × × × × -
Expo/Bundy station × × × × × ×

Phase Two

Concepts for phase two from Expo Line to LAX/Crenshaw Line are expected to be released in late 2018, with detailed connections to the under-construction LAX people mover.[17] Metro hopes to complete the feasibility study by 2019 and an Environmental Review could commence.

Advocacy

Transit advocates have proposed combining the Van Nuys Transit Corridor and Sepulveda Pass Corridor into a single study with an aim to connect Sylmar, Van Nuys, the Orange Line, Sherman Oaks, UCLA, and the future Westwood/UCLA Purple Line station (Alternative 3). Future extension phases south to the Expo Line, LAX, South Bay, or beyond are also being advocated and proposed.[18]

The project is part of Metro's Twenty Eight by '28 initiative, which aims to complete its list of expansions in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics.[19] Metro is looking into a public/private partnership to accelerate the opening.

References

  1. ↑ http://thesource.metro.net/2018/06/07/rail-concepts-released-for-sepulveda-transit-corridor/
  2. ↑ "I-405 In LA Named Busiest Interstate In Any U.S. City". CBS Los Angeles. CBS Broadcasting Inc. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  3. ↑ Los Angeles Magazine
  4. ↑ Hymon, Steve. "Of monorails, Measure M and the Sepulveda Pass; How We Roll, June 14". LACMTA. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Metro Seeks Mass Transit Solution For Sepulveda Pass". CBS Los Angeles. CBS Broadcasting. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  6. ↑ Sotero, Dave. "Metro releases RFP to study Sepulveda Pass transit options". LACMTA. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  7. ↑ Sharp, Steven (27 November 2018). "Here are the 28 Projects that Metro Could Complete Before the 2028 Olympics". Urbanize. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  8. ↑ Grigoryants, Olga. "LA Metro releases concepts for a rail line through, over, or under the Sepulveda Pass. Take your pick". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  9. ↑ https://thesource.metro.net/2018/06/07/rail-concepts-released-for-sepulveda-transit-corridor/
  10. ↑ https://www.scribd.com/document/381310519/Sepulveda-Transit-Corridor-Community-Presentation#download&from_embed
  11. ↑ https://www.scribd.com/document/381310519/Sepulveda-Transit-Corridor-Community-Presentation#download&from_embed
  12. ↑ https://www.scribd.com/document/381310519/Sepulveda-Transit-Corridor-Community-Presentation#download&from_embed
  13. ↑ https://www.scribd.com/document/381310519/Sepulveda-Transit-Corridor-Community-Presentation#download&from_embed
  14. ↑ https://www.scribd.com/document/381310519/Sepulveda-Transit-Corridor-Community-Presentation#download&from_embed
  15. ↑ https://www.scribd.com/document/381310519/Sepulveda-Transit-Corridor-Community-Presentation#download&from_embed
  16. ↑ https://thesource.metro.net/2018/06/07/rail-concepts-released-for-sepulveda-transit-corridor/
  17. ↑ http://thesource.metro.net/2018/06/07/rail-concepts-released-for-sepulveda-transit-corridor/
  18. ↑ Reed, Bart. "Valley-Westside Rail Tunnel". The Transit Coalition. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  19. ↑ http://thesource.metro.net/2018/06/07/rail-concepts-released-for-sepulveda-transit-corridor/
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