WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration on Friday signed a $893.3 million grant agreement for LA Metro’s planned light rail line in the San Fernando Valley.
The 6.7-mile, $3.57 billion East San Fernando Valley Light Rail project will largely follow Van Nuys Boulevard, and connect the bus rapid transit Orange Line to two Metrolink lines, the Ventura County Line in Van Nuys and the Antelope Valley line in San Fernando, as well as to Amtrak service in Van Nuys. It previously received $600 million in state funding [see “California agency awards more than $2.5 billion …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 2, 2023]. The Los Angeles Times reports that the federal grant completes funding for the project.
The grant is the first awarded under the FTA’s Expedited Project Delivery pilot program. More on that grant program is available here.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a press release that the project “will reduce vehicle congestion, improve air quality, and provide residents an efficient and affordable way to get where they need to go.”
The first phase of the project will include 11 stations and a fleet of 33 light rail vehicles. As part of the project, a public-private partnership will design and develop a solar power system to provide approximately 70% of the energy for the line’s maintenance and storage facility. The first work on the project, street improvements and utility relocations, will began later this year, with completion projected in 2031. A study is now under way to develop design options for a 2.5-mile second phase that would extend to the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink station.
More on the light rail project is available here.
Why federal funding? Is traveling from Van Nuys to North Hollywood interstate transportation?