courtesy Creative Commons

The lawsuit was filed by Crenshaw Subway Coalition, a community non-profit, in Superior Court against the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation last week.

“We’re going to court to preserve the environment, to protect the future of Crenshaw Blvd, and to defend our civil rights,” Damien Goodmon, chair of the Crenshaw Subway Coalition, said in a press release.

The lawsuit alleges that the Crenshaw/LAX line environmental study certified by the MTA violated California civil rights law, Section 11135, and 11 provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act.

The Crenshaw Subway Coalition also says that the project will greatly increase traffic, cause safety concerns and destroy the Crenshaw business district.

“Crenshaw Blvd is the last black business corridor in Southern California,” said Jackie Ryan, past president of the Leimert Park Village Merchants Association in a press release. “Five to six long years of street-level construction will kill not just the business district from 48th to 59th, it will vibrate all down Crenshaw Blvd as people avoid the disruptive street-level construction zone.  Then there’s the horrid permanent impacts after construction: the removal of half the business parking spaces, cutting down our mature median trees and replacing them with fences, the elimination of left turns, and other changes that will forever hamper our community’s revitalization goals.  And to not have a stop at Leimert Park Village?  That’s makes no sense from a transit perspective and is just plain insulting.”

The Crenshaw Subway Coalition is requesting that resources be added to the project to keep the rail line underground for a mile. The project is 8.5 miles long.

The assistance given by Obama sped up the environmental review process and will allow the line to open sooner. The aim of Obama’s program is to create jobs, as many as 15,000 in L.A.

The project is expected to be operational in 2018, unless the lawsuit slows it down.

View the press release here.

Reach assoicate news editor Hannah Madans here.