Metro is preparing an Alternative Analysis (AA), Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS), in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the Crenshaw Transit Corridor, which extends approximately 10 miles from Wilshire Boulevard on the north to El Segundo Boulevard on the south.
The project purpose is to improve public transit service and mobility in the Crenshaw Corridor between Wilshire and El Segundo Boulevards. The overall goal of the proposed project is to improve mobility in the corridor by connecting with existing lines such as the Metro Green Line or approved transit lines such as the Exposition Light Rail Transit (LRT) (under construction). Mobility issues in the corridor have been well documented in many studies, including the Crenshaw-Prairie Corridor Preliminary Planning Study (1994), the Route Refinement Study (2000), the Major Investment Study (MIS) (2003), and the 2004 Regional Transportation Plan.
Metro has created two Working Groups made up of residents and stakeholders to assist Metro in addressing community issues and ideas during this project study. The Mid-Corridor Working Group will focus on the area between Exposition Bl and Florence Av. The South Corridor Working Group will focus on the area that includes Inglewood and LAX. Working Groups are open to the public. The meeting held last week was held at Rogers Park in Inglewood.
“I wholeheartedly support the Crenshaw Corridor proposal with the options for right rail that will provide benefits for the City of Inglewood, stated Inglewood Councilman Danny Tabor.  “The public process is effective when the residents are involved and I encourage them to be involved.  Councilman Tabor has highlighted the importance of resident participation at his town hall meetings and other public attended events.
Another advocate for resident involvement is Inglewood Councilman Ralph Franklin.  “Regarding the Metro/Crenshaw Corridor project, the outreach for public comments is critical,” he said.  “Absence of hearing from the public, it sends the wrong message that the public doesn’t care about a new and improved method of public transportation.  The results will have this project put on the back burner of priority projects and may never come into fruition.”
The corridor within the study area has a north-south orientation and includes five jurisdictions: the Cities of Los Angeles, Inglewood, Hawthorne, El Segundo, as well as portions of unincorporated County of Los Angeles. The corridor study area is generally defined as the area extending north to Wilshire Boulevard, east to Arlington Avenue, south to El Segundo Boulevard, and west to Sepulveda and La Tijera Boulevards. A variety of land uses exist along the corridor including residences, religious institutions and commercial property, north of Interstate 10 (I-10) and south of Slauson Avenue, industrial and public land uses in Inglewood and El Segundo, as well as redevelopment areas in Los Angeles, Inglewood, and Hawthorne.
In addition to a No-Build Alternative, a range of reasonable alternatives will be evaluated including, but not limited to: alternative transit technologies, alignments/routes, service branches, station locations, and a Transportation Systems Management (TSM) Alternative. The TSM alternative enhances the No-Build Alternative and emphasizes transportation system upgrades, such as bus route restructuring, shortened bus headways, expanded use of articulated buses, reserved bus lanes, expanded park/ride facilities, express and limited-stop service, signalization improvements, and timed-transfer operations.
“The public, the elected and those that control the Measure R and Recovery Act Funds need to work in partnership to ease the congestion of traffic on the main arteries of the many cities impacted with this project,” stated Ralph L. Franklin.  “I encourage all residents in our community, regardless of their method of transportation to attend the Metro/Crenshaw Corridor.  It will take several decades to complete but if our voices are not heard as concern citizens, our future looks bleak on addressing the much needed traffic jams today and will be even worse in the future!”
 “There is often a great deal of focus on the Expo rail while the community focus on this Crenshaw division is so essential,” Councilman Tabor reiterated. “We don’t want to wait until the system is in place and then complain, the urgency is now during the planning states.  Our community can be instrumental in the final decisions regarding efficient functional transportation systems.  Stations can be built in Inglewood on La Brea and we also do not want the Hollywood Park area to be omitted.”
The transit technologies to be evaluated will include Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), Light Rail Transit (LRT), and others identified during scoping for the project. In addition to the alternative technologies, two different BRT and LRT alignment alternatives have been identified for initial consideration. One alignment alternative provides for a BRT or LRT line operating south from Wilshire Boulevard or the Exposition LRT Line (under construction), along Crenshaw Boulevard through Koreatown, the Crenshaw District, and downtown Inglewood on the Metro-owned Harbor Subdivision railroad right-of-way, where the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway operates some freight service, continuing to the Metro Green Line Aviation Station. A transfer connection would be provided to LAX from the Aviation Station.
A second alignment alternative provides for operation of a BRT or LRT line south from Wilshire Boulevard or the Exposition LRT line along Crenshaw Boulevard to the Harbor Subdivision railroad right-of-way. The BRT Alternative would then operate along the Harbor Subdivision railroad right-of-way to La Brea Avenue, where it would turn southward to Hawthorne Boulevard and terminate at El Segundo Boulevard. The LRT Alternative would operate along the Harbor Subdivision railroad right-of-way south to Prairie Avenue, then turn west to connect with the Metro Green Line Hawthorne Station along the I-105 Freeway and south on Hawthorne Blvd. to El Segundo Boulevard. In addition to these alignment alternatives, other alternatives may be identified during project scoping.
“Just as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated: ‘All life is interrelated.  All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.  Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.’  Our future is in your hands to help us to help you live a life of less frustration and anxiety on public roads,” states Councilman Ralph L. Franklin. “Get informed, get involved and take action, now.”