This morning, Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins announced that Metro will open its new K Line light rail - known as the Crenshaw/LAX Line - on Friday October 7. The grand opening festivities will take place at Leimert Park, with a noon ribbon-cutting. Rides will be free, system-wide, that weekend from Friday through Sunday.
Much of the $2 billion 8.5-mile K Line travels on and under Crenshaw Boulevard, the past, present, and future heart of L.A.'s Black community. The northern terminus of the line will be at the Metro E (Expo) Line. The southern terminus of the line will be at the Metro C (Green) Line near the Aviation Station. The LAX station, called the Airport Connector, is a separate project expected to open in 2024.
Construction on many mega-projects often hits delays, but the Crenshaw Line has seen more than its share. The line broke ground in 2014, with an originally anticipated pre-pandemic opening date of 2019. Construction delays caused Metro to anticipate opening to 2020, then to 2021. Even as construction drew to a conclusion, system testing revealed unanticipated problems.
Metro already approved some funding for a different contractor to do the final construction work needed to close out the project. The prior CEO Phil Washington alluded to a potential liquidated damages lawsuit against the current Crenshaw contractor, Walsh Shea, for failing to deliver the new line as contracted.
