California Construction News staff writer
Construction has begun on the East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project, a 6.7-mile line along Van Nuys Boulevard that will include 11 stations and connect communities in the San Fernando Valley to the regional transit network.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday for the project, which will run through Van Nuys, Panorama City and Arleta before reaching San Fernando Road in Pacoima. Completion is targeted for 2032.
The line will operate in the median of Van Nuys Boulevard and connect with the G Line in Van Nuys, as well as local bus services and the Metrolink and Amtrak station in Van Nuys.
The project includes streetscape and sidewalk improvements, pedestrian crossings and roadway upgrades along the corridor, restoring rail service to Van Nuys Boulevard for the first time since Pacific Electric streetcars stopped operating on the street in 1952.
The project is funded through federal, state and local sources, including Measure M, the Los Angeles County sales tax approved by voters in 2016. The corridor was also included in the 2008 Measure R transportation funding measure, when improvements were initially envisioned as bus lanes on several north-south streets in the San Fernando Valley. The proposal later evolved into a light rail line along Van Nuys Boulevard.
A rail yard for train storage and maintenance will be built in Van Nuys, west of Van Nuys Boulevard, between Keswick Street, Raymer Street and the Pacoima Wash.
The project is part of a broader expansion of transit infrastructure in the San Fernando Valley, including upgrades to the G Line, new bus lanes on Roscoe Boulevard and increased peak-hour bus service on Roscoe Boulevard and Nordhoff Street.
Also, the line will connect with the proposed Sepulveda Transit Corridor rail project. A planned Metrolink station in Pacoima would provide an additional connection to the Antelope Valley Line.
