Downtown Subway Project Delayed in Los Angeles

Laura J. Nelson reports that the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has announced a new completion data for the Regional Connector.

The Regional Connector project is building two tunnels "to knit together three rail lines into two mega-routes that will allow passengers to ride from East Los Angeles to Santa Monica or from Azusa to Long Beach without changing trains," according to Nelson. The project "has long been seen as the linchpin in L.A. County's ambitious rail expansion plans, a way to ease commutes and attract more riders to a rapidly growing transit system."

Delays have dogged the project from the outset, however, and the budget has already increased twice and the construction schedule delayed once before this recent announcement.

This most recent delay is being blamed mostly on labor shortages—a challenge that could have effects in the budgets and timelines of other capital projects in the Metro pipeline.