The first phase of a new light-rail line is opening on Friday, Oct. 7 in South Los Angeles and Inglewood, and it has people buzzing — some with excitement, others with questions and deep concerns.
Like any of the subways, light-rail or bus rapid transit lines that are operating in car-centric Los Angeles County, transit-oriented residents love them but that warm-and-fuzzy feeling may not hold among typical motorists — or among the folks living, working or going to school in the neighborhoods along the line.
This may be true of the $2.2 billion K Line, previously called the Crenshaw Line, which has taken LA Metro eight years to construct and will open to the public at noon on Friday, Oct 7.
A few facts:
• This rail line opening includes seven stations. They are, from north to south: Expo/Crenshaw at the E (Expo) Line, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Leimert Park, Hyde Park, Fairview Heights, Downtown Inglewood and Westchester/Veterans.
• The loudest talk centers on the second phase when the line makes a connection to LAX, which will take another two years. Several things must take place: First, the K Line’s Aviation/Century Station won’t be completed until sometime in 2023 with a rail link to the C (Green) Line. Second, the K Line’s LAX/Metro Transit Center Station, at Aviation and 96th streets, won’t be open until 2024. From there, passengers will be able to transfer to the LAX Automated People Mover that takes people to and from terminals at LAX.
• Two long-term extensions are being studied. One would extend south to the C Line in Torrance. The other would extend north to Wilshire Boulevard, the D (Purple) Line and West Hollywood.
• Beginning at noon Friday, the first phase of the K Line will be operational and rides will be free. Metro says expect long lines. In fact, all Metro transit will be fare-free through Sunday Oct. 9. Metro encourages riders to take buses and trains without charge to the USC football game on Saturday at the Coliseum and the Rams-Cowboys game at SoFi Stadium, and the LAFC-Nashville MLS soccer match at Banc of California Stadium in Exposition Park on Sunday.
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LA Metro will open the Crenshaw rail line, called the K Line, on Oct. 7
When people talk about the K Line, there’s the impact of the 8.5-mile line opening on Friday, and then there’s the far-greater potential that includes a connection into LAX in about two years, and several years later, an extension into Hollywood and West Hollywood — connecting the South Bay with South L.A., Downtown L.A. and the two Hollywoods.
“The most important thing (about the K Line) is that it provides the long sought-after connection to get to the airport,” said Bart Reed, executive director of The Transit Coalition, a nonprofit that advocates for mass transit service in Los Angeles County.
“When it blossoms out, it will be a powerhouse rail line in Los Angeles,” he said in an interview on Thursday, Oct. 6. “This is only the first entry of a great transit project.”
But others who live in the communities of Baldwin Hills, Crenshaw, Leimert Park, Park Mesa and Hyde Park say the impact will be slow, not immediate. And some see other Angelenos riding, but not locals.
“Overall, it is positive. But nothing changes that much. It won’t eliminate car dependency,” said Isaiah Madison, with the Empowerment Congress West Area neighborhood council that includes Baldwin Hills and Leimert Park. Madison is the representative for the Crenshaw area.
While having another transit option is good, light rail in L.A. County runs too slowly, Madison said. He’d like to see a faster, regional train system. “It is not a very efficient connector. I think it is too slow and makes too many stops.”
The train will run every 10 minutes during weekday peak hours, every 12 minutes on off-peak weekday hours and weekend days and every 20 minutes in early mornings and after 8 p.m., Metro reported.
Inglewood is building a people mover from the K Line station to SoFi Stadium, home of the football Rams and Chargers. But that is in the future. Metro will run a shuttle between the K Line and SoFi later in the NFL season. Now, Metro runs a shuttle between the C (Green) Line’s Hawthorne/Lennox Station and SoFi for every Rams and Chargers football game.
Lately, the trend on Metro train lines has been higher weekend ridership over ridership on weekdays. Some say the event/entertainment lure surpasses the commuters, because people don’t want to leave their cars when driving to work, and because many more people are working from home since the start of the pandemic in January of 2020.
Armen Ross, executive director of the Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce, hopes that Destination Crenshaw, an art/history/retail/cultural display along the famous boulevard, will bring in tourists. “We hope it (K Line) brings people to the heart of the African-American community in Los Angeles,” he said.
Darryl Grayson, president of the United Homeowners Association in the View Park and Windsor Hills neighborhoods, said his group will ride the trains and evaluate service, convenience, efficiency and safety. But they have more questions than answers.
He doesn’t see a stampede to ride the trains. “From our perspective, I don’t see people getting rid of their cars. It will be more of a trickle in for our community; a slow process.”
The biggest impact will be people riding to get to and from LAX in 2024. “Once you can get all the way to the terminal, bags in hand on a train, then that will be a game-changer,” Grayson said.
Chandra Mosley, president of the View Heights Block Club, which helps combat crime and works with the LAPD, is also active in the Park Mesa Heights Community Council. She says there are not enough gates and rails around the tracks and she’s concerned about safety near 11 schools, especially where the light-rail train comes up from underground and rides at street level along Crenshaw Boulevard.
“It is an insult to the Black and brown community for that stretch to be at grade level,” she said, referring to the train riding down the middle of Crenshaw Boulevard.
“We have 11 schools within a half-mile radius of this rail line, and one is directly adjacent at 54th and Crenshaw — and they don’t have railings. That is a disaster waiting to happen,” Mosley said.
Reed, who sat in on many meetings for years regarding the K Line, said there are no reports from experts that say the line will be a danger to pedestrians. “The line is safe. It is fenced off from the community,” he said.
When asked if she’ll be at the opening, or attend the celebration at Leimert Park on Friday, Mosley said: “I have no desire to be there.”
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