Which Way for the Next Light-Rail Line in L.A. County?

L.A. transit agency weighs competing plans for lines to the Westside and San Gabriel Valley.

As they prepare to set spending priorities for the next quarter-century, Los Angeles County transit officials are bracing for a head-on collision over where to build the next light-rail line.

Should the Westside’s proposed Expo Line be extended all the way from downtown to Santa Monica? Or should Pasadena’s Gold Line grow 13 miles east to Montclair?

Though construction is still years away, long-range planning decisions reached over the next several months will determine the pecking order for major county transit projects through 2030.

Even if both light-rail proposals are considered worthy, some transit officials doubt that the federal government would spring for two $1-billion transportation projects in the same county at the same time, escalating the competition for federal dollars.

"There is no question that traffic is getting worse everywhere," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who wants the Westside’s Expo Line extension built next. "Now the question is, if you have a limited amount of money, where do you spend it?"

By Jean Guccione, Times Staff Writer

Full Story: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mta3sep03,0,1246224.story?coll=la-home-local