Torrance Transit Center Proposal Ready to Roll
By Nick Green, Staff Writer
August 31, 2009
Torrance is on the verge of regaining the transit center it lost more than four years ago.
The City Council tonight is expected to approve the $18 million purchase of a 15-acre site at 465 Crenshaw Blvd. It was once the home of the PPG Industries chemical plant, where paint coatings and resins were manufactured.
The city has spent nearly a year negotiating for the property that sits next to a railroad right of way. That could be converted into a commuter rail line connecting the city to Los Angeles International Airport.
"We're hoping someday in the future people will be able to drive down Crenshaw Boulevard, park their car (at the transit center) and take a train to LAX," Mayor Frank Scotto said.
Scotto said the property also would serve as a regional bus terminal, with a car-pool lane on Crenshaw connecting it to the San Diego (405) Freeway.
The key word here is "someday."
Torrance hopes to build the transit center within two years.
That would replace the former transit center at Del Amo Fashion Center that closed in January 2005, when a new parking structure was built where it sat.
Since then, the 3,000 bus riders who used the transit center daily have had to use a temporary one on Carson Street.
But it could take 10 years or longer - the light rail line isn't projected to receive funding until 2030 - for the transit center to be completely finished.
Still, the city is right in planning ahead, said Jacki Bacharach, executive director of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. Doing so bolsters the chances that the South Bay won't be forgotten when its turn comes to receive money for a light rail line.
The regional group persuaded the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board in June to spend $5million to continue analyzing the project; MTA staff had recommended stopping all studies because the line is so far away from completion.
"We want to keep moving forward so our rail line is partially designed and ready to move onto the next step when that money is available," Bacharach said.
It's not only possible the line could connect with LAX to the north, but the Blue Line and Long Beach to the south as well as another light rail route that would end in downtown Los Angeles.
Only one-third of the former PPG site, located on Crenshaw between Del Amo Boulevard and Maricopa Street, is needed for the transit center, Scotto said.
The remainder could be sold off for other uses - El Camino College is looking at using a portion of it as a possible firefighter training center, for instance - to help subsidize the cost of building the transit hub.
Housing has been specifically ruled out by the seller, however, Scotto said.
Moreover, the city also has applied for almost $12 million in federal funding and has another $2.5 million set aside from a voter-approved measure to help pay for the land acquisition.
"We may end up acquiring a transit center for next to nothing," Scotto said.
The city hopes to complete the purchase by year's end.
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