On Friday, I joined Metro and local officials in breaking ground for the East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project.
For generations, the San Fernando Valley has too often been shortchanged from the meaningful transportation investments that many families and communities desperately rely on. As a first-generation American of Mexican descent, whose mother never learned how to drive, I couldn’t help but think about the nine-year-old version of me with my mom and kid sister who was trying to navigate a complicated RTD public transportation system that was never consistent just for a dentist appointment.
I dedicated the groundbreaking to those families who desperately rely on a public transit system that hasn’t always shown up for them, for the essential workers who kept our city running when everyone else stayed home.
The line’s first segment will run for 6.7 miles along Van Nuys Boulevard, connecting Van Nuys, Panorama City, Arleta and Pacoima. It will include 11 stations. This segment is scheduled to open between 2028 and 2030.
The second 2.5-mile segment, for which the design options are still under study, will be from Pacoima to the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station and include 3 stations.
I’m incredibly grateful for the collaboration and partnership with Metro. We are going to see this project all the way through.
