Santa Monica has the official support of the Los Angeles City Council when it comes to defending a lawsuit that could derail the Expo Light Rail being built to Santa Monica.
The unanimous vote by Los Angeles City Council members on Friday gives the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office authority to file a legal brief supporting the environmental study and process of what was involved in creating it.
Filed March 5, 2010, the Neighbors for Smart Rail are mainly concerned with the at-grade street crossings at Overland, Westwood, and Sepulveda. The group calls for the Expo Board of Directors to restudy the EIR before building begins.
The Expo Light Rail project will run from the downtown Los Angeles Metro Rail Station to Santa Monica. The first phase of the project is underway connecting Downtown Los Angeles to Culver City. Expo Line Phase 2 will run 6.6-miles from Culver City to Santa Monica.
The Board of Directors of the Expo Line Construction Authority certified the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for Phase 2 in February 2010.
The $1.5 billion line is expected to open in 2015.
