With a Superior Court judge yesterday rejecting numerous claims by a homeowners’ group against the Expo light rail’s Final Environmental Impact Report, the long-awaited transit system from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City overcame its latest impediment and is expected to open some portions by autumn.
City Councilman Scott Malsin, a member of the governing Expo Authority, predicted this morning that Culver City’s station will be ready for launch by the middle of next year, “if not earlier.”
“Now the Authority can move forward with Phase 2, from Culver City to Santa Monica, begin selecting a contractor and starting construction,” he said. “The judge’s ruling is very favorable for those of us who are interested in seeing construction of Phase 2 move forward.”
It may surprise many that 86 percent of the almost 9-mile rail routethat forms Phase 1 is completed.
Mr. Malsin said that the suit by Neighbors for Smart Rail did not interrupt progress.
An Expo spokesperson noted that all of the homeowners’ legal challenges were dismissed, including “standards for conducting an environmental review of the project’s impacts; baseline data used in predicting future conditions surrounding impacts; cumulative impacts of traffic, parking, noise, air quality and other proposed corridor developments; selection of alternatives carried forward for study in the final EIR and recirculation of the draft environmental impact report for review.”
Outcome Was Obvious to the Judge
In his ruling, Judge Thomas I. McKnew waved off concerns that the distant future could not be known. He held that Expo “rigorously” considered existing and future traffic conditions at intersections up to the year 2030, especially or even with ground-level light rail stations.
Accenting the importance of mapping conditions for the years ahead, Judge McKnew said: “The very reason for the project is to address long-term traffic concerns.”
He concluded that unlike other builders who have guessed at future conditions, Expo “rigorously” followed a strict methodology.
Neighbors for Smart Rail, generally centered in the Rancho Park area, had contended that a recently published opinion should have limited Expo’s discretion to current conditions. They said Expo should not have projected beyond 2015.
Many dynamics besides the appearance of the light rail system at intersections will be altered in the next 20 years, the judge said, going a step further.
“To analyze the project’s effects on transportation assuming that the project’s operation is the only change that will occur, is absurd,” he scolded.
