Downtown-to-Eastside Rail Line Closer to Reality

LOS ANGELES-Transit officials here have approved a $20.8-million contract for engineering work on a light-rail line that would run from Downtown to the densely populated Eastside, pushing the proposed $760-million project one step closer to becoming reality.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority awarded the contract to Eastside LRT Partners, a locally based group that is also preparing the project’s environmental impact report. The decision instantly raised conflict-of-interest howls from the losing bidders, which include Southland-based Jacobs Engineering Group and giant Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall.