During Metro’s scoping period to get feedback on the transit agency’s project to connect the San Fernando Valley, the westside and eventually LAX, UCLA sent a letter to the agency urging it to include a stop on its campus, university officials said Monday.
The scoping period began on Nov. 30 and ended on Friday for the Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project, called a “mega-project” by Metro, which is considering six alternatives with varying routes and modes of transport:
— alternative 1: an automated monorail system that would be entirely aerial along the 405 corridor and the Metrolink Ventura County Line railroad tracks with an electric bus shuttle to UCLA;
— alternative 2: an automated monorail system with aerial alignment along the 405 corridor and Metrolink Ventura County Line railroad tracks with an aerial automated people mover connection to UCLA;
— alternative 3: an automated monorail system with aerial segment along the 405 corridor, with a monorail station on the UCLA campus;
— alternative 4: a heavy rail system with underground segment south of Ventura Boulevard and aerial alignment generally along Sepulveda Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley, with an underground rail station on LAX’s campus as Gateway Plaza;
— alternative 5: a heavy rail system with underground alignment including along Sepulveda Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley, with an underground rail station on campus at Gateway Plaza; other
— alternative 6: a heavy rail that would be entirely underground, including along Van Nuys Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley, and with a southern terminus station on Bundy Drive on the Westside and an underground rail station on campus at Gateway Plaza.
In a letter addressed to Metro Project Manager Peter Carter on Thursday, UCLA’s Administrative Vice Chancellor Michael Beck urged the agency to select alternative 4, 5 or 6, which have heavy rail stations at UCLA.
“Ensuring that the Sepulveda Transit Corridor includes a station in the center of campus is a very high priority for UCLA,” Beck said in a statement about the letter. “We believe it is an equity imperative for Metro to provide the people of Los Angeles with a smart MetroRail option to access the UCLA campus and UCLA Health. Given that over one-third of our students are federal Pell Grant recipients, providing an affordable transportation option to our campus is very important.”
He said the university opposed Alternative 3, which includes a monorail station at UCLA, because it wouldn’t provide a seamless connection to the Purple (D) Line, assumes the use of UCLA property that the university hasn’t agreed on, and may face opposition from Westwood neighbors.
In the letter, Beck noted that UCLA is the largest employer west of downtown and about 84,000 students, faculty, staff, visitors and patients at its hospital are at the campus each day.
“In sum, the Sepulveda Transit Corridor project presents Metro with a golden opportunity to truly impact congestion in a significant positive way and improve the quality of life for residents of Southern California. But to realize this opportunity, Metro must build a project that maintains its long-term congestion reduction objectives, improvements in equity and access, and minimal operational impacts on neighborhoods,” Beck said in the letter.
“Only the alternatives including an on-campus UCLA station and seamless connection to the Purple/D Line at Wilshire and Westwood can realize this opportunity and meet Metro’s own objectives. Los Angeles and her people deserve nothing less. We cannot squander this momentous opportunity. Let’s get it right and build a Sepulveda Transit Corridor that works for all of Los Angeles.”
The estimated $9.5 billion project is funded through Measure M, the transportation sales tax that LA County voters approved in 2016, as well as state and federal dollars.
Full details on the alternatives, including maps, are available at wp.me/p26tDN-yuP.
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