L.A. Metro to release final eco report for rail extension

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) received approval to release the final environmental report for the  8.5-mile light rail Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor.

The corridor will extend from the intersection of Exposition and Crenshaw Boulevards to the Metro Green Line. The project will serve the cities of Los Angeles, Inglewood, Hawthorne and El Segundo and portions of the unincorporated Los Angeles County and is funded by Measure R.

The Final Environmental Impact Statement/Report will be presented to the Metro board of directors later this month for its action. Approval by the Metro board is necessary to move the project into the construction phase.

"For more than 50 years Los Angeles has waited for a rail line connecting the Crenshaw Corridor to LAX. That sound you hear is this train finally moving out of the station. Today, we took one large step forward to putting 7,800 people to work constructing the Crenshaw Line," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said.