Residents and community groups are split over Los Angeles Metro’s proposed South Bay project, which agency officials said will extend light rail train service from the Redondo Beach Station to the new Torrance Transit Center.
“This is an important project for the South Bay, but also for the region in connecting people across Los Angeles to schools including El Camino [College]… Students would be able to easily come from various parts of the region,” Georgia Sheridan, Metro senior director of mobility corridors, said.
While the project would bring light-rail transportation to Torrance, many Lawndale residents have voiced safety and environmental concerns if Metro’s board of directors approve it.
“Not only will we lose our biggest source of public trees and grass, but we, as residents, will be exposed to the environmental and safety externalities and harms of this project: Tree removal, lots of noise, toxic dust and extreme proximity to family homes,” April Owens, a former ECC student and Lawndale resident, said.
The project’s proposed route, called the Hybrid Alternative, would pass through Lawndale neighborhoods close to homes and destroy community green space.
“Metro basically wants to tear out every single tree in our neighborhood… all the green space… there’s a freight train line they want to move closer to homes… and then they’re going to put two Metro tracks next to it,” Lawndale resident John Schreiber, 39, said.
In response, some local residents in Lawndale formed the South Bay Environmental Justice Alliance, a grassroots organization advocating for the protection of their communal space, known as the right-of-way.
This corridor of land, occupied by the rail line, is owned by Metro.
As part of the planning process, Metro was required to study multiple routes before choosing the preferred path, including the trench option, elevated/at-grade and Hawthorne Boulevard alignments, according to their Draft Environmental Impact Report.
Many Lawndale residents actively support the Hawthorne alignment, which would run along Hawthorne Boulevard, instead of the Hybrid Alternative, which would pass through their neighborhoods.
“Lawndale City Council said they were also ‘Yes on Hawthorne,’ and our argument is that if you put it down Hawthorne, it’s going to benefit the business… no homes would be affected because we’d run down the center of a commercial corridor instead… of going through people’s backyards,” Schreiber said.
Yet, Metro’s Final Environmental Impact Report notes key challenges with the Hawthorne Alignment, including a higher cost, extensive utility work, increased property acquisitions and lack of a direct connection to the Redondo Beach Transit Center.
“The right-of-way would be built on Metro-owned property, and so it has very few acquisitions. The Hawthorne Alignment requires building in the center of Hawthorne, as well as along the 405 Freeway, and requires several turns which we would need to acquire properties,” Sheridan said.
Former Northrop engineer and Lawndale resident Ray Hollar believes that the Hawthorne Alignment would be less expensive and faster to build than the Hybrid Alternative.
“It’s the most cost effective project, no matter which of the cost estimates that you use,” Hollar said.
Supporting the Hybrid Alternative is South Bay Forward, a grassroots group of South Bay residents that advocate for expanding public transportation and housing, according to their website.
“The Hybrid Alternative is a really thoughtful solution that makes the rail right-of the way… much safer and upgrades and modernizes it,” Brianna Egan, chapter chair of South Bay Forward and head of the Transportation Advocacy Project, said.
South Bay Forward is currently contracted as a community-based organization with Metro, tasked with disseminating information about the project.
“We don’t get paid or receive, you know, any salary from Metro, it’s… essentially reimbursement for materials,” Egan said.
Egan said the project would help connect communities, including potentially bringing more students to ECC.
“It makes more transit connections possible, especially for young people who don’t drive or who may not choose to drive…I could very well see…students riding in the K line from El Segundo or from Westchester,” Egan said.
Los Angeles Metro’s researched route plans:
1. Elevated/At-grade Alignment: Builds a new rail line mostly at ground level, along Metro’s owned property
2. Trench Option: Puts parts of the light rail tracks below ground to reduce neighborhood and traffic impacts along Metro’s existing property
3. Hawthorne Option: Builds the rail line along Hawthorne Boulevard
4. Hybrid Alternative: Combines elements of the elevated/at-grade alignment with the trench option, putting below grade-crossings at 170th and 182nd streets near Artesia Boulevard, along the rail-line
Editor’s note:
- This article was updated Thursday, Nov. 13, to adjust photo orientation and create a gallery.
- This article was updated Thursday, Nov. 13, to correct the spelling of Brianna Egan’s name.
- This article was updated Thursday, Nov. 13, to correct April Owens’ name.
- This article was updated Saturday, Nov. 15, to correct a title.
