Metro Expo Line

Over its 15-year existence, Bergamot Station in Santa Monica has evolved from a ramshackle Southern Pacific rail yard turned water-heater factory into a world-class destination for art lovers. Its dozens of galleries, the Santa Monica Museum of Art and other artsy operations -- housed in scattered warehouse-style buildings clad in corrugated metal -- each year attract hundreds of thousands of visitors, many seeking the Bergamot Cafe's signature mint lemonade.

In a victory for environmentalists and many traffic-weary residents, the Exposition Construction Authority board has voted to use the existing railroad right-of-way along Exposition Boulevard to extend the rail line from Culver City to Santa Monica.

Of the many issues facing the six candidates in the 5th District City Council race in Los Angeles, none is potentially thornier than the routing of the proposed Expo Line light rail. Should the train run along the old rail right-of-way that cuts through several residential neighborhoods between the 10 Freeway and Pico Boulevard? And, if so, should the train cross busy north-south streets or go under or over them?

State regulators gave approval Friday for the Expo Line light rail to proceed with construction next to a pair of South Los Angeles schools on the condition that safety upgrades are made at both sites. The decision by the California Public Utilities Commission means the Expo Line between downtown L.A. and Culver City probably won't open next year as scheduled and may be pushed back to summer 2011, according to Expo Line officials.