Supporters rally for SF Valley-Westside train through Sepulveda Pass with UCLA on-campus station ...Middle East

A wide coalition of supporters from the westside and the San Fernando Valley rallied outside LA Metro Headquarters Thursday in support of a heavy rail train through the Sepulveda Pass that must include a station on the campus of UCLA.

Educational institutions, neighborhood councils, labor, environmental groups and business and transit nonprofits favored options laid out in the just released draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for an underground subway — not an elevated monorail — connecting the San Fernando Valley with L.A.’s Westside.

The group, STC4ALL, wants to see LA Metro’s board choose from alternatives 4, 5 or 6 — those that would use mostly underground, heavy rail trains. The north end of the Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project would be at the Metrolink/Amtrak station at Van Nuys Boulevard and Saticoy Street, while the south end connects to the Metro E (Exposition) light-rail line, which runs from Santa Monica to Downtown L.A.

How to get there varies between an aerial, Disneyesque monorail following the 405 Freeway, or an underground subway similar to those running in parts of Hollywood, North Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles.

Metro is considering five alternative routes, either by a monorail (alternatives 1 and 3; 2 was removed) or automated underground heavy rail (alternatives 4, 5) and alternative 6, an underground rail train with an operator.

The coalition favors option 5, a 14-mile heavy rail train with underground alignment including along Sepulveda Boulevard, or 6, a 12.9-mile heavy rail with underground alignment including along Van Nuys Boulevard and a southern terminus station on Bundy Drive.

Many are opposed to option 4, which includes underground heavy rail half way but with an aerial alignment along Sepulveda Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley. All three would have stations at UCLA’s campus.

From Van Nuys to a UCLA Gateway Plaza station, the ride time for option 5 is 15 minutes, and 12 minutes for option 6.  Driving times are estimated at 90 minutes. Total daily boardings are estimated as: Option 4, 120,546; option 5, 121,624; option 6, 107,096.

In comparison, the monorail options would carry far fewer passengers, with Option 1 at 64,798 and Option 3 at 86,013. Option 1 requires passengers to disembark from the monorail and take a bus to UCLA.

UCLA student leaders said monorail option 1, with fewer riders and without a station at UCLA would be the wrong choice.

“Every day, Bruins travel from the San Fernando Valley to UCLA. They deserve a direct, reliable connection, not a plan that leaves them a mile away,” said Diego Bollo, UCLA student body president. “We urge Metro to make the bold choice and build with a direct station at UCLA campus.”

Likewise, Jack Feng, speaking on behalf of 14,000 UCLA graduate students as vice president of the Graduate Students Association, agreed that the train line must stop on the campus and connect with the D (Purple) Line.

“Today, graduate students commute long distances. A reliable connection would give us more time in labs, classes and libraries, to teach instead of spending time on the freeway,” Feng said.

The heavy rail options with a station on campus and connecting to the Metro E Line at Wilshire and Westwood was supported by other leaders who are members of the coalition and spoke at the rally.

“Going from Van Nuys to UCLA — that is great! We cannot wait to put a shovel in the ground,” said Eddie Alvarez, representative of the LA/OC Building and Construction Trades Council.

Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry & Commerce Association (VICA), is looking forward to adding to just two miles of train tracks in the San Fernando Valley. “The Valley has been short-changed. This changes everything,” he said.

Waldman, along with L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman who represents the Valley, were asking Metro to move forward on the project. After a 90-day comment period for the DEIR, the Metro board will choose the preferred alternative, mode, and station alignments.

“This will significantly get people out of their cars. But it needs to happen quicker. This project is transformative and it needs to happen as soon as possible,” Waldman said.

“Every year we wait to make a decision the costs keep rising. Let’s do it now and get the value out of that money,” Raman said.

Metro has about $9.5 billion budgeted from Measure M, the half-cent sales tax for transportation projects passed by county voters in 2016 — including a majority in the San Fernando Valley. Of that, $5.7 billion for the Valley-Westside segment, and $3.8 billion for the future Westside to LAX segment.

Most likely, LA Metro will need to augment local tax revenues with state and federal capital dollars. That may be a difficult ask of the Trump Administration and a Congress favoring oil drilling and roads rather than public transit that reduce greenhouse gases.

Metro can wait until after Trump’s term is over, said Steve Sann, Westwood Community Council chairman. “Actually, Metro got money during the first Trump administration for the Purple Line (extension project). This is a project of national significance.”

Those who favor the monorail approach include the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association (SOHA) and the Bel Air Association. Both say the above-ground monorail columns are less intrusive along the 405 median or shoulder and oppose tunneling under homes for a subway. They also say the monorail can be built cheaper than heavy rail.

Completion is estimated between 2033-2035, according to Metro.

Here’s a more detailed look at the five alternatives and the estimated construction costs in 2023 dollars:

• Alternative 1: $15.4 billion. Monorail with aerial alignment on 405 Freeway corridor and electric bus connection to UCLA. 15.1 miles, with eight stations: Metro E Line (Expo)/Sepulveda, Santa Monica Blvd., Wilshire Blvd. (Metro D Purple Line), Getty Center, Ventura Blvd., Metro G Line, Sherman Way, Van Nuys Metrolink Station. Electric bus connection from D Line (Purple) Westwood/VA Station to UCLA

• Alternative 3: $20.8 billion. Monorail with aerial alignment on 405 Freeway corridor and underground alignment between Getty Center and Wilshire Blvd. 16.1 miles, with seven stations: Metro E Line (Expo)/Sepulveda, Santa Monica Blvd., Getty Center, Ventura Blvd., Metro G Line, Sherman Way, Van Nuys Metrolink Station. Two underground stations: Wilshire Blvd. (Metro D Purple Line), UCLA Gateway Plaza. Underground alignment between the Getty Center and Wilshire Blvd.

• Alternative 4: $20 billion. Heavy rail with underground alignment south of Ventura Blvd. and aerial alignment generally along Sepulveda Blvd. in the San Fernando Valley. 13.9 miles, with four underground stations: Metro E Line (Expo) Sepulveda, Santa Monica Blvd., Wilshire Blvd. (Metro D Purple Line), UCLA Gateway Plaza. Four aerial stations: Ventura Boulevard, Metro G Line, Sherman Way, Van Nuys Metrolink Station.

• Alternative 5: $24.2 billion. Heavy rail with underground alignment including below Sepulveda Blvd. in the San Fernando Valley. 13.8 miles (underground), with seven underground stations: Metro E Line (Expo) Sepulveda, Santa Monica Blvd., Wilshire Blvd. (Metro D Purple Line), UCLA Gateway Plaza, Ventura Blvd., Metro G Line, Sherman Way and one aerial station at the Van Nuys Metrolink Station.

• Alternative 6: $24.4 billion. An operated heavy rail train with underground alignment including below Van Nuys Blvd. in the San Fernando Valley and southern terminus station on Bundy Drive. 12.9 miles (underground), with seven underground stations: Metro E Line (Expo)/Bundy, Santa Monica Blvd., Wilshire Blvd. (Metro D Purple Line), UCLA Gateway Plaza, Ventura Blvd., Metro G Line, Van Nuys Metrolink Station.

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