By Arnold Adler
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — Officials of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority are awaiting final word from the U.S. Department of Transportation on the final environmental impact report for the proposed Southeast Gateway Rail line and how much funding can be obtained for the project.
The final environmental report was approved by the MTA board in April. A preliminary approval was received in August but a final report from the federal government is not expected until later this year, an MTA spokeswoman said.
She noted that $2 billion has been approved in state and county grants for the project. Initial construction is under way but formal groundbreaking is not expected until about 2028 with completion in 2035, the spokeswoman said.
County officials were in Washington, D.C. this week lobbying for support and funding for the project. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who serves on the MTA board, led the delegation, which met with Sen. Laphonza Butler and Biden administration officials.
“Residents across Southeast L.A. and the Gateway Cities have been taking two, three buses to get to work, to school, and to doctor’s appointments,” Hahn said. “These communities need and deserve this high quality, reliable rail line, that will not only help people get to their jobs in other parts of the county but will be an investment in jobs and businesses along the route itself. This project has cleared every hurdle necessary and now it’s time to get it the funding it deserves from our federal partners and get it built.”
The Southeast Gateway Line is a proposed light rail transit line that would extend approximately 14.5 miles from the Slauson/A Line Station in the Florence-Firestone unincorporated area of Los Angeles County to the Pioneer Station in the city of Artesia.
The line will connect Artesia, Cerritos, Bellflower, Paramount, Downey, South Gate, Cudahy, Bell, Huntington Park, Vernon, Los Angeles and Florence-Firestone. Another five miles would take the route into Los Angeles through the art and business district and Little Tokyo to Union Station.
The route would be along MTA-owned right-of-way once used by the now defunct Pacific Union Electric Red Car. The Red Car halted service in the 1960s.
“Most of this line will serve equity focused communities that have some of the worst air quality and suffer from some of the worst congestion anywhere in the entire state,” Hahn said earlier this year. “They deserve high-quality transit, and the Southeast Gateway Line will finally deliver that.”
Hahn has said that 44% of residents along the line live below the poverty level, and that construction and operation of the line will create between 37,000 and 46,000 jobs, and generate $5 billion per year in economic activity.
The Washington delegation included Paramount City Councilwoman Vilma Cuellar Stallings, who also serves as the chair of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments, Paramount Councilwoman Isabel Aguayo, Artesia Mayor Pro Tem Ali Taj, Maywood Councilman Heber Marquez, South Gate Vice Mayor Maria Davila, Downey Mayor Mario Trujillo and Lakewood Councilman David Arellano.
“The dozen communities along the Southeast Gateway Line are unified in supporting accessibility to jobs, cultural, and educational opportunities through this project,” Stallings said. “We are grateful to partner with Supervisor Janice Hahn in advocating with the Biden-Harris administration and congressional leaders to improve our residents’ quality of life.”
The line will include 19 stations including the existing Red Car Depot on Bellflower Boulevard in Bellflower and new stations on Pioneer Boulevard in Artesia, Rosecrans Avenue in Paramount, Gardendale Street in Downey, Firestone Boulevard at Atlantic Avenue in Cudahy and Florence avenue at Salt Lake Boulevard in Huntington Park.
The line also will connect with two other rail lines: the C (Green) Line and the A (Blue) Line, as well as the rest of the county regional transit network.
