After the last expansion project, traffic on I-405 only got worse. Metro wants to try again.
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Metro Planning and Programming Committee approved a proposal that will shift the agency’s funding to support projects including a widening of Interstate 405, a seemingly endless project that never seems to yield the desired results.
Joe Linton outlined the proposal in Streetsblog LA before the committee met, writing that the project in question will add lanes between Artesia Boulevard and Interstate 105. “Metro and Caltrans are currently widening the 405 in Torrance, and are planning at least six other 405 Freeway expansion projects in the South Bay.” Linton notes that the agencies purposely divided the 405 expansion into segments under one mile to qualify as ‘auxiliary lanes’ that are not subject to a full environmental review.
Under the proposal, Metro will “add and shift Measure R (Metro 2008 countywide sales tax) Multimodal Highway Subregional Program funds to various projects, mostly freeway lanes/ramps expansion and arterial streets/intersections expansion, but also including some multimodal projects (complete streets and transit, bike, walk components and projects).”
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