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Mayor Garcetti celebrates the opening of the Metro K Line
10/07/2022
 Mayor Eric Garcetti celebrated the opening of the Metro K Line — previously known as the Crenshaw/LAX Project — which brings seven stations of light rail to South Los Angeles and will eventually connect with the LAX People Mover and the Metro C Line (Green). “Today, we’re fulfilling a dream that started with Mayor Tom Bradley and was carried on for decades by countless community leaders and elected officials: world-class public transportation in South Los Angeles,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “Angelenos generations from now will recognize the opening of this line as a new chapter in Los Angeles’ transportation history – as a moment when we opened doors of opportunity to communities that had been ignored for too long, and put our commitment to making Los Angeles a more inclusive, accessible, and sustainable city on the fast track.” The new line represents Metro’s single largest transportation investment in the South Los Angeles area since the construction of the Metro A Line (Blue) and C Line (Green) more than 25 years ago. The seven new stations are now open in Crenshaw, Leimert Park, Hyde Park, Fairview Heights, Inglewood, and Westchester. An eighth station will open at Aviation and Century in 2023, and a ninth station will open near LAX in 2024, when Metro will complete a new station to connect the K Line with Los Angeles World Airport’s Automated People Mover, which will provide a direct connection to the LAX terminals. To commemorate the opening of the line, Metro is providing free rides on all Metro systems, including Metro Bike Share, starting today and throughout the weekend. The $2.1 billion project was largely funded by local tax dollars, predominantly Metro’s Measure R transportation sales tax measure approved by voters in 2008, as well as a key federal funding loan. The K Line was designed and built with the help of community input and local voices. The project used several small business support programs, the Business Solution Center and Business Interruption Fund, to help offset construction impacts for local small businesses. The project is the first to be delivered under Metro’s Project Labor Agreement and Construction Careers Policy, and exceeded all of its workforce goals, including 60% of hours worked by Targeted Workers from economically disadvantaged areas. “The K Line will bring a new era of equitable transportation investment that connects the Crenshaw Corridor and Inglewood residents to convenient, fast, reliable and low-cost rail transit,” said Metro Board First Vice Chair Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker. “What’s more, it will provide a new gateway to jobs, education and healthcare for our communities that need it the most.” “After decades of going without rail transit, I’m proud to lead Metro as it delivers the K Line to Crenshaw, Inglewood, and all the other south Los Angeles communities.” said Stephanie Wiggins, CEO of Metro. “We’re eternally grateful to the area’s residents and businesses for hosting us in the community during a long and technically complex construction period. I know the K Line will be well used and well loved by these communities and the rest of Los Angeles County for decades to come.” With Measure M, a voter-approved transportation tax championed by Mayor Garcetti in 2016, the agency has the largest rail expansion program in the United States. Metro is currently building the Regional Connector Transit Project in Downtown L.A. and the D Line (Purple) Extension Project in three separate segments between Downtown L.A. and West Los Angeles. The East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project, which will connect the heart of the Valley to West Los Angeles via rail, is currently in the procurement process. Metro’s construction authority partner, the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority, is also building an extension of the L Line (Gold) further east in the San Gabriel Valley. Numerous other Metro Rail and Bus projects are also in various stages of development. Mayor Garcetti has spent three terms as Chair of the Metro Board of Directors, where he has advocated for transportation infrastructure investment and fareless transportation for riders of all ages. Under his leadership, LA has won over $10 billion in combined state and federal competitive grant funding and financing for local transportation projects. Mayor Garcetti has pushed Metro to create and accelerate some of the most ambitious sustainability goals in the nation — including the commitment to fully electrify Metro’s bus fleet by 2030. Last year, the Mayor celebrated the full electrification of the Metro G Line (Orange), and in 2020, LADOT placed the single largest electric bus order in American history with 155 total buses. Metro has now ordered a total of 145 electric buses, with 46 delivered so far.
For more information on the K Line, visit: kline.metro.net. Back To News |
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