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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