Lafayette Square residents oppose proposed Metro project

Dozens of Lafayette Square residents gathered on Wednesday to loudly voice their opposition to a proposed Metro project that would put an underground line underneath the heart of their neighborhood.

The project, which would expand the current K-Line further north, connecting Crenshaw to Hollywood, would partially run underneath the historic neighborhood, which is a predominantly Black upper-class community.

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"It's a historical area, as you said, and we just want to keep it preserved as that," said one resident.

They're mostly worried about what the tunneling could do to their homes, some of which are more than 100 years old.

"Our houses — that are hundreds of years old — are not equipped like some of the big apartments that some of the Metros go under,"

Renderings of the project show that the rail tunnel would be built between 80 and 100 feet underground in most areas, and officials say that those would be some of the deepest tunnels constructed.

"Once they're under construction, you wouldn't be able to hear or feel the tunnels running or hear the trains running or the tunnel boring machine," a Metro representative said.

Additionally, officials assured that no homes would be knocked down after more than 20 residents received letters from the agency about possibly purchasing the properties.

"We will not be purchasing homes in Wellington and or Lafayette Square as part of this project," the representative said.

Metro is taking all of the comments made at Wednesday's meeting into consideration for their environmental study on the project. They'll also field more concerns from additional meetings before making a decision on how to move forward.

If approved, the project is expected to be fully completed in 2041.

More information on the proposal is available on Metro's website .

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