Expo Line to Westside enters second phase of construction
Los Angeles city and county leaders will gather in Santa Monica on Monday to mark the start of construction on the second phase of the Expo Line.
The rail line will be the first to reach far into the traffic-clogged Westside since trolleys ran about 50 years ago.
Construction on the first phase of the line — which promises to take commuters 8.6 miles from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City in 30 minutes — began in 2006 with a price tag of $640 million, but that eventually jumped to $932 million.
The second phase has a budget of $1.5 billion and will continue 6.6 miles west to Colorado Avenue and 4th Street in downtown Santa Monica. Officials hope to have the full line open in 2015.
Rick Thorpe, executive director of the authority in charge of building the Expo Line, attributed the first-phase budget changes to dramatic increases in construction and material costs, added expenses for new stations and grade separations, and legal battles with the project's contractor and some local residents, among other reasons.