LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles transportation officials considering transit lines using Sepulveda Pass to connect the west side and the San Fernando Valley say the cost estimates range from $9.8 billion to $13.4 billion.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Tuesday it has four options — three routes using heavy rail trains of the kind already in use on its subways and a fourth route using a monorail.
Two of the possible routes are entirely underground, which adds the expense of tunneling.
A transit line would give commuters an option to Interstate 405, which uses the pass to cut through the Santa Monica Mountains but is notoriously jammed. Metro says travel times on the 13- to 15-mile (21 to 24-kilometer) route would most often be faster than driving.
