Project Background
The Crenshaw Corridor (originally the Crenshaw/Prairie Corridor) was conceived following the Los Angeles riots of 1992, as a way to better serve transit-dependent residents in the corridor, while at the same time providing stimulus for positive economic growth in South Los Angeles. The corridor was championed by California State Senator Diane Watson and County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, both representing portions of the corridor.
In 1993-94, a Major Investment Study (MIS) was initiated. An architectural design and planning visioning was performed by the USC school of Architecture in 1996. A route refinement study followed in 1999-2000 to improve the shelf life of the Crenshaw-Prairie Corridor and to narrow down the number of alternatives.
A new Major Investment Study (MIS) was completed in 2003. From 2007 through 2009, Metro conducted a draft environmental review of the corridor, taking public input and analyzing the environmental impacts and benefits of various alternatives. In December 2009, the Metro Board approved the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) and chose a "Locally Preferred Alternative" (LPA).
This alternative, which includes the preferred mode and route, is now the subject of a final environmental study, resulting in a Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR). This final study is expected to be completed in May 2011.
Local community leaders, neighborhood councils, current L.A. County Supervisors Yvonne Burke and Mark Ridley-Thomas, and Congresswoman Diane Watson continue to express enthusiastic support for the proposed light-rail line. In a letter to Metro dated November 5, 2007, Congresswoman Watson wrote:
Having advocated strenuously for a light rail 'spur line' to carry passengers from the Wilshire Corridor down the Crenshaw Corridor and, ultimately, to LAX for 25 years now, I am delighted to offer continued encouragement, advocacy and feedback for a Metro study (to)…avoid aggravating (the) Leimert Park traffic bottleneck, Coliseum to Vernon;…Wilshire/La Brea station connection to Westside Corridor line, avoiding hydrogen sulfide;…fully consider (the) below-grade option. (Comment ID 116-125 in the cited link)
Read more about this topic: Crenshaw Corridor (Los Angeles Metro)
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