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says Paul Gonzales, senior media
relations officer for the Los Angeles
County Metropolitan Transporta-
tion Authority (Metro), which is
spearheading the project. “People
with cars call this [project] active
transportation. People without cars
call it just getting to work.”
The trail’s first planned segment,
a 6.4-mile paved expanse, is known
as the “Rail to Rail” portion, as it
will connect two light rail lines—the
Crenshaw/LAX Line (under con-
struction and more than halfway
complete) and the existing Blue Line
running between the downtowns of
A new rail-trail project is taking
shape that will improve biking and
walking transportation options in
an area where more than one-fifth
of the households within a half mile
of the project don’t own a vehicle.
Called “Rail to River,” the project is
highly anticipated for these histori-
cally underserved neighborhoods
in the county of South Los Angeles,
the most populous county in the
nation, where nearly 17 percent of
commuters get to work via public
transit, bicycling or walking.
“In this part of the county, a lot
of the population is low income,”
LEFT:
U.S.
Department of
Transportation
Deputy Secretary
Victor Mendez
signs a check
representing
a $15 million
TIGER grant
awarded to Los
Angeles County
Metropolitan
Authority in
2015 for the
construction of
the Rail to River
project.
TRAIL UNDER
CONSTRUCTION:
Rail to River
LOCATION:
South Los
Angeles,
California
USED RAILROAD
CORRIDOR:
Harbor
Subdivision of
BNSF Railway
LENGTH:
8.3 miles
SURFACE:
Asphalt
California’s Rail to River
Rail to River will connect to two important north-south commuter routes in Los
Angeles and serve a historically underserved area where more than one-fifth of
households don’t own vehicles.
BY LAURA STARK
Los Angeles and Long Beach. The
two rail lines are important north-
south commuter routes, and the
trail, traveling east-west, will provide
access to stations for both.
Currently in an engineering and
environmental clearance phase, the
trail’s initial section, which stretches
from West Boulevard to Santa Fe
Avenue, is slated for completion by
2019. The trail will largely parallel
Slauson Avenue, providing a much
safer alternative to biking on the
busy thoroughfare that has no
bike lanes. Though the corridor is
minimally used by BNSF Railway,
E M E R G I N G R A I L - T R A I L S
4
RAILS TO TRAILS FALL 2016