The Los Angeles Metro Board of Directors on Thursday, Jan. 22, unanimously approved an elevated rail line along Hawthorne Boulevard, extending the Metro K Line 4.5 miles to the Torrance Transit Center — the option Torrance, the South Bay’s largest city, opposed.
The extension will go along the Metro-owned right-of-way from the Redondo Beach (Marine) Station before diverting into an elevated guideway along the 405 Freeway and traveling through the center median of Hawthorne Boulevard, rejoining the ROW south of 190th street.
The project is estimated to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by about 2,639 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, according to the Torrance Traffic Commission, in addition to creating 65,000 jobs by 2042.
For more than a decade, the South Bay has been waiting for public transit to connect them to the rest of the greater Los Angeles area after L.A. County voters approved funding for the project in 2008 and 2016. The region has long been secluded, having to use the congested 405 Freeway to travel to areas like Downtown Los Angeles or LAX.
And while the majority of stakeholders have supported expanded light rail access, communities have clashed over where exactly the two tracks supporting high-speed light rail trains will go. So when the Los Angeles Metro Board of Directors voted to approve the route along Hawthorne Boulevard, it was met with both cheers and boos from the hundreds of residents, city representatives and community organizations that filled the board room on Thursday, spilling out into the hallway, lobby and plaza of the Los Angeles Metro Transit Authority building.
The board’s decision will “devastate” Torrance’s economy, according to that city’s economic development director, Fran Fulton, because of the impact on the businesses along Hawthorne Boulevard — the majority of which reside in Torrance.
Almost a third of Torrance’s sales tax revenue is generated from the Hawthorne Boulevard corridor, exceeding $20 million per year. The alignment would require the temporary and permanent property acquisition of multiple businesses, including car dealerships – a significant financial resource for the city.
Permanent acquisitions would be needed at the Volvo Cars South Bay auto dealership and the South Bay BMW/mini auto dealership, and a temporary easement would be needed at South Bay BMW. Sales from these dealerships amount to an average of $300 million per year.
“The City remains highly concerned about the real and significant impacts this decision will bring to our community,” the city said in a press release. “Torrance is the third-largest sales tax generating city in Los Angeles County and home to the Del Amo Fashion Center, the largest shopping center in LA County and second largest in California. Hawthorne Boulevard serves as the primary gateway to these businesses and regional destinations, carrying approximately 70,000 vehicle trips daily.
“The Hawthorne Boulevard option is projected to result in over $28 million in annual sales tax losses to Torrance and nearly $164 million in annual impacts to LA County schools and services that depend on regional sales tax revenue,” the city added. “The City is committed to protecting our local economy and minimizing impacts to residents and businesses as this project moves forward.”
Those sentiments were reflected during Thursday’s meeting, at which members of Torrance’s staff and numerous residents showed up to encourage the board to vote against the Hawthorne alignment.
“I want to sincerely thank the Torrance community for your extraordinary advocacy,” Torrance Mayor George Chen said in a written statement. “Torrance showed up at today’s Metro Board meeting in full force. I am deeply grateful to my colleagues on the City Council, City staff, former elected officials, and the hundreds of residents, business owners and public transit advocates who attended in person, called in and submitted letters in support of the (locally preferred alternative).”
Other concerns over the Hawthorne Boulevard alignment included its height and complications when it comes to obtaining proper permits to do construction along the 405 Freeway. Metro will need to coordinate with Caltrans to obtain those easements and will need to do what’s known as a NEPA review – a two year process – in order to use federally owned portions of the highway.
The board’s decision on Thursday was surprising to many – as it was a last minute motion put on the agenda by Director Holly Mitchell. The original motion had been to approve a different route selected as the “locally preferred alternative” by the board in May.
In contrast to the Hawthorne Boulevard alignment, the LPA remained along the ROW, passing through a dense residential area within feet of close to 200 homes in Lawndale and Redondo Beach. While Torrance and the Metro board, for the most part, supported the LPA, every other city impacted by the project did not want the light rail along the ROW.
Redondo Beach, Lawndale and Hawthorne have submitted dozens of letters over the years opposing the LPA because of the proximity of the trains to homes. Currently, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway utilizes the ROW, running a freight train that transports isobutane, butane and gasoline to refineries throughout the South Bay. Homeowners near and adjacent to the ROW knew this train would pass by twice a day, but did not expect to have two more light rail trains passing through the narrow corridor close to 300 times per day, as would have happened under the LPA.
The ROW is only 75 feet in some areas, so to make space for the additional trains, Metro would have had to move not only the freight tracks, but also seven pipelines funneling oil, including jet fuel, 12 feet closer to homes to make room for the two commuter trains. This would put the freight train as close as eight feet of some homes.
Other concerns included the upheaval of potentially toxic dirt that would have been needed for construction. These tracks have been along the ROW for more than a century, according to Barry Ogle, a retired BNSF engineer, who noted a time when he was analyzing the tracks and found nails dating back to 1909.
Railroad ties have historically been treated with chemicals to protect against pests and other environmental conditions, according to the California Department of Toxic Substances, and removing those ties can kick up those chemicals into the air. The soil along the ROW has not been analyzed or treated, so it would not be known if there are any toxic levels of dangerous chemicals present until Metro surveys the area prior to construction.
Additionally, there would have been 17 temporary construction easements on residential property, ranging from 231 square feet to 850 square feet, according to Metro’s 2025 Real Estate Acquisitions Report.
Metro attempted to mitigate these concerns about the LPA by responding to the thousands of public comments that have been submitted since the draft environmental impact report was released in 2023.
“Metro has relocated gas utilities on major projects such as the Purple Line Extension,” Metro said in a previous statement, “where gas lines along Wilshire Boulevard were moved to support tunneling and station construction, and the Regional Connector, which required gas line relocations beneath downtown streets to accommodate rail infrastructure and station entrances.
“Gas and other utilities were also relocated as part of the existing C (Green) Line and Crenshaw/LAX (K Line) Project,” the statement added, “which use the same freight corridor as the proposed light rail extension to Torrance, where adjustments along Crenshaw Boulevard and near Aviation/96th Street supported rail construction while maintaining uninterrupted gas service.”
The spokesperson also said in a Tuesday statement that this is not an unprecedented project and there are other instances where light rail and freight share a corridor among residential areas.
“Metro has a long record of safely building and operating light rail in dense, mixed-use corridors,” the recent statement said, “including historic railroad rights of way that pass through established neighborhoods such as the Metro A Line between Long Beach and Pomona and the Metro E Line between Santa Monica and East Los Angeles.”
Metro staff’s reasoning for choosing the LPA over the Hawthorne alignment largely stemmed from the lower cost, lack of necessary Caltrans cooperation and sooner completion date.
In the final EIR, Metro predicted the LPA would cost $730 million less than the Hawthorne Boulevard option, since building elevated rail is more expensive, with the costs for the two predicted as $2.7 billion and $3.4 billion, respectively. The LPA would take less time to complete. The LPA is projected to be completed in March 2036, the final EIR said, while the Hawthorne Boulevard option would be completed in December 2036.
Director Janice Hahn, who represents Torrance and is also on the county Board of Supervisors, said Metro staff has been unclear when it comes to the expected delay in construction of the Hawthorne option. The FEIR said it would only be a few months while staff said in Thursday’s meeting that it could be up to three years. Staff said this would be up to Caltrans.
Marlon Regisford, deputy director for Caltrans District 7, said during Thursday’s meeting that the state agency is committed to expediting any easements or permits needed for construction. That may not be needed, however, because Redondo Beach and Torrance are actually in the process of obtaining ownership of sections of the 405 Freeway, meaning they would be the ones to coordinate with Metro.
And while Mitchell said this could solve the problem, Fulton said Torrance would have the opportunity to say no – potentially scrapping the project.
The city, for its part, is not giving up, said Torrance City Manager Aram Chaparyan.
“Today’s vote is not the end of Torrance’s advocacy — it is the beginning of a new chapter,” Chaparyan said in a written statement. “The City will regroup, determine next steps, and be at the table for every decision that affects our residents and businesses. We will hold Metro accountable to its commitments and work tirelessly to protect Torrance’s interests.”
Numerous directors on the board said Thursday’s decision was one of the most difficult they’ve ever had to make.
“I’ve been on the board for two decades (and) and this is one of the most difficult days for me,” said Director Ara Najarian, who supported the ROW alignment until about two weeks ago.
Now that Mitchell’s motion has passed, with the alignment being approved and the FEIR being certified, the next steps will be for the CEO to report back with recommendations for enhanced pedestrian access to the South Bay Galleria Station, expand construction mitigation programs for businesses along the boulevard and pursue the rest of the funding needed to complete the project.
“This is hard,” Mitchell said, “but benefits sometimes outweigh the cost and I think that applies here.”
Related Articles
LA Metro OKs underground rail through Sepulveda Pass Subway through Sepulveda Pass gets support by LA city and county, will face Metro board Thursday A Line train from Pomona whisks friends to LA’s Philippe for lunch LA Metro Board to vote on extending light rail to the South Bay New LA Metro ‘care-based’ division adds flexible approach to safety on trains, buses, stationsHence then, the article about la metro board approves k line extension to torrance along hawthorne boulevard was published today ( ) and is available on Los Angeles Daily News ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( LA Metro board approves K Line extension to Torrance along Hawthorne Boulevard )
Also on site :