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janmichaels.bsky.social
Jan
@janmichaels.bsky.social
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southbayforward.bsky.social
Our statement on the Jan 22nd Metro Board vote for the C Line Extension to Torrance.

Thank you to all who joined to support certification of the Final EIR for Hybrid LPA. We did not expect the Hawthorne motion.

It will pose significant delay but there is still hope for rail to the South Bay (1/3)
South Bay Forward Statement on Metro Board Vote for C Line Extension We thank the thousands of South Bay residents and stakeholders including 15+ organizations with over 35,000 members who joined us to support effective transit and certification of the C Line Extension Final EIR at the LA Metro Board. We appreciate every person who provided written or public comment at the board meeting on Thursday, Jan 22nd and the many other meetings leading to it. Thanks to months of ettort by our team and coalition we were well-positioned to certify and approve the Board-Selected Hybrid LPA. We did not expect nor anticipate the selection of Hawthorne Blvd as the approved route. Just six days before the board neeting, a surprise motion by Supervisor Mitchell, Mayor Sandoval, and Ms. Dupont-Walker revived the Hawthorne Option. It would change the route from the Hybrid Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) on the existing rail corridor owned by Metro to Hawthorne Blvd, a busy 8-lane highway, requiring businesses to close for construction and permanently seizing properties through eminent domain. This 11th hour motion against staff recommendation was highly irregular: It skipped Planning & Programming Committee. It did not include direct public outreach to cities, stakeholders, a businesses that woulo be attected on Hawthorne Blva including in lorrance. SOUTH BAY FORWARD It overrode four decades of study and statt expertise. It will add 5-10 years of environmental review, at least $730 million, and pose complex regulatory hurdles which could still jeopardize the extension as a whole. We did what we could to respond within a narrow time frame but were unable to get equal time with the Metro Board Members or affected communities. In the end, the Board approved the Hawthorne Blyd route. While this is a challenging setback and significant delay, there is still hope to bring rail to the South Bay. Here's how: 1. Hold public officials accountable -including Board Members Mitchell, Hahn, & Butts, and the Cities of Redondo Beach, Lawndale, and Torrance-to a higher standard of transparency and a commitment to deliver K Line Southern Extension expeditiously. Express disappointment by the lack of public process in the sudden switch to Hawthorne Blyd 2. Get involved with first-last mile planning for this project, to ensure it will improve mobility for all 3. Preserve public ownership of the rail corridor at minimum until the Hawthorne Blyd route is operational. 4. Push for Metro Board reform so future decisions are determined by experts who prioritize transit best practices over political dynamics. South bay Forward remains committed to making sure you know where and when you can besi support this fight for our community.
January 30, 2026 at 11:35 PM