Metro will host four public meetings during the last week of March to provide updates and receive public input on the latest developments of the Eastside Transit Corridor Phase 2 project. 

Meetings are scheduled for:

• Monday, March 28 at 6 p.m.
  Whittier Senior Center
  13225 Walnut Street
  Whittier, CA 90602
• Tuesday, March 29 at 6 p.m.
  East Los Angeles Public Library
  4837 E 3rd Street
  Los Angeles, CA 90022
• Wednesday, March 30 at 6 p.m.
  Quiet Cannon
  901 Via San Clemente
  Montebello, CA 90640
• Thursday, March 31 at 6 p.m.
  South El Monte Senior Center
  1556 Central Avenue
  South El Monte, CA 91733

Metro is studying alternatives to extend the first phase of the Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension (MGLEE) farther east from where the line currently ends at Pomona Bvd and Altantic Blvd in East Los Angeles. There are two light rail transit (LRT) alternatives under consideration: the State Route-60 (SR 60) to South El Monte alternative and the Washington Bl alternative to Whittier, both of which would connect seamlessly to the MGLEE at the existing Atlantic Station.

The “SR-60” alternative generally follows the southern edge of the SR-60 Freeway terminating at Peck Rd in the City of South El Monte. The train would run along the side of the freeway on an elevated track crossing over existing freeway ramps, and would travel for a short distance on the north side of the SR-60 freeway between approximately Greenwood Avenue and Paramount Boulevard. This alignment is identified as the SR-60 North Side Design Variation (NSDV).

The “Washington Boulevard” alternative would extend the Gold Line for approximately 9.5 miles to Whittier with up to six new stations. This alignment was originally designed to follow the 60 freeway and then turn south, running on an aerial structure above Garfield Avenue until turning east on Washington Boulevard, ending near the intersection of Washington and Lambert Road. However, a segment of that aerial route on Garfield Avenue has been eliminated from consideration, which has led to further studies to come up with a new route to the city of Whittier that does not include the eliminated aerial section on Garfield.

At their November, 2014 meeting, the Metro Board of Directors directed staff to: 1) continue studying both alternatives, and also explore the option of operating both alternatives; 2) for the SR-60 alignment, follow up on comments received from partner agencies to evaluate and mitigate concerns raised in the Draft Environmental document; 3) for the Washington Boulevard alignment, eliminate an aerial section on Garfield Ave and develop a new alignment to get to the city of Whittier, and; 4) evaluate possible connections with the West Santa Ana Branch Corridor project, which seeks to build a transit project between downtown L.A. and the city of Artesia.

The public will hear about work that has been done to address comments raised regarding specific areas of the SR-60 route, and will receive information on three potential replacement routes that are being considered for the Washington Blvd alignment.

The three routes that are currently under consideration are: 1) along Arizona Avenue, with potential stations at Arizona/Whittier and The Citadel; 2) along Atlantic Ave., with potential stations at Atlantic/Whittier and The Citadel, and; 3) along Garfield Avenue, with the same stations that were proposed in the Draft EIR. The Garfield option would need to include an underground segment to replace the aerial portion that was eliminated by the Board due to community opposition, since an at-grade alignment was ruled out in the initial study. The grade (above street, street level or underground) of potential routes on Arizona and Atlantic have not been determined.

The format for the community meetings will include a short open house session where the public can see project displays, get more information on the project, and talk to staff, followed by a presentation updating the public on the project status. After the presentation, the audience will be provided an opportunity in break-out sessions to give their comments and suggestions for the project and on the new Washington Boulevard alignments under consideration.