Residents Concerned About Safety, Noise of Green Line Extension

If commuter trains started running in a residential area what would be done to ensure the safety of children walking to school and playing nearby?

That's what most worries Redondo resident Ryan McArdle about a proposed extension of the Metro Green Line.

McArdle voiced his concern at a public hearing on the project at the North Redondo Senior Center on Wednesday night.

"A lot of people walk on the tracks," he said. "What are they going to do to make sure that there is no access to these rails?"

The proposed Green Line extension project would connect the existing terminus at Marine Avenue in North Redondo to the Torrance Transit bus hub on Crenshaw Boulevard.

Marna Smeltzer, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said the extension would help connect the South Bay with neighboring areas.

"In the future, we want to be connected to San Pedro, we want to be connected to the Westside, to L.A.," Smeltzer said. "This is a good start. It gets us going." 

The extension, when linked with another proposed route near LAX, would enable direct north-south rail service from Torrance to the new Expo Line, which will start operating between Culver City and downtown Los Angeles in late 2011.  

The extension is one of four options being considered by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board. It would extend the existing Green Line 4.6 miles south from the Redondo Beach station. This plan includes four new potential stations at Manhattan Beach Boulevard/Inglewood Avenue, the proposed South Bay Regional Intermodal Transit Center at the South Bay Galleria, Hawthorne Boulevard/190^th Street and the Torrance hub at Crenshaw Boulevard.

Other options include no new construction, modest freeway/bus modifications and utilizing an abandoned freight track to Torrance.

"What we are trying to do here is to improve the mobility in the South Bay, trying to connect the South Bay with the El Segundo, LAX area and provide better transportation options," said Randy Lamm, Metro's project manager.

Lamm said that the extension would provide an alternative to taking the 405 Freeway during rush hour and reduce pollution.

In November 2008, Los Angeles County voters approved Measure R, funding $40 billion in traffic relief and transportation upgrades in 88 cities in the county over the next 30 years. Measure R would provide more than  $270 million for the South Bay extension.

If approved, the extension will come into operation in eight to 20 years.

The public hearings will end May 28, and community workshops will take place in the summer.

The public is encouraged to attend two other meetings in Lawndale and El Segundo or submit concerns and questions to Metro at (310) 922-4004 or www.metro.net/projects/south-bay/