Rep. Lieu joins Skanska, LACMTA for Expo 2 tour

Written by Maggie Lancaster, assistant editor
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L-R: Rick Meade, Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker, Rep. Lieu, Phillip Washington, John Bello and Bernard Jackson at Santa Monica Station.
LACMTA

U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA-33) joined officials from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) and Skanska on August 11, to tour the recently completed Exposition Light Rail Transit Phase 2 (Expo 2) project.

 

LACMTA CEO Phillip A. Washington and Brian Freund, vice president of operations at Skanska USA Civil, gave the tour’s inaugural presentation at the La Cienega/Jefferson Station.

“The Expo Line is now LACMTA’s second busiest light-rail line in terms of ridership and our agency’s first project to receive the Envision Platinum certification,” said Washington. “It continues our track record of building projects that are not only successful but showcase our commitment to sustainability.”

Phase 2 of the Metro Expo Line project is 6.6 miles long and connects Santa Monica by rail to downtown Los Angeles and the rest of the 105-mile Metro Rail system that extends to the San Fernando Valley, the San Gabriel Valley, the South Bay, Long Beach and many points in between.

Major construction began in 2012 and was completed in 2016. The Exposition Construction Authority awarded the design-build contract for Phase 2 to Skanska-Rados Joint Venture (SRJV) in March 2011 and the project opened May 20, 2016. The National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC), which coordinated the event, presented SRJV with the 2016 Large Project of the Year for Expo 2 in January.

“It was a pleasure to see firsthand the completed Expo 2 line, which connects many diverse neighborhoods in California’s 33rd District from Santa Monica to downtown L.A.,” said Rep. Lieu. “The project demonstrates the value of supporting transportation infrastructure investments.”

The group discussed the need to increase budget allocations for domestic discretionary investments and, more specifically, transportation infrastructure investments. They also emphasized the importance of the Capital Investment Grants Program and the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grant Program that support rail infrastructure investment, as well as transportation, housing and urban development goals.

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