The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will hold four community meetings in March to evaluate the options to extend the Crenshaw/LAX Line to the north with connections to the Metro Expo, Purple and Red lines, as well as numerous bus lines.

The first three meetings will be in Los Angeles: from 6 to 8 p.m. on March 21 at the Westside Jewish Community Center, 5870 W. Olympic Blvd.; from 10 a.m. to noon on March 23 at Virginia Road Elementary School, 2925 Virginia Road; and from 6 to 8 p.m. on March 26 at United Teachers Los Angeles, 3303 Wilshire Blvd.

The final meeting will be in West Hollywood from 6 to 8 p.m. on March 28 at the West Hollywood Library, 625 N. San Vicente Blvd.

The Crenshaw/LAX Line is currently under construction and runs between the Metro Green and Expo lines. With a scheduled opening in 2020, the light rail line will provide service to the Crenshaw Corridor, Inglewood and LAX communities.

The Crenshaw Northern Extension will continue the line north and will serve portions of the cities of Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. The project will ultimately provide a rail connection between the South Bay, LAX area, South Los Angeles, Inglewood, Crenshaw Corridor, Mid-City, Central Los Angeles, West Hollywood and Hollywood communities.

There are five potential alignments under review. Metro is conducting technical analysis of the alignments and gathering public input to determine which alternatives will be studied further during the subsequent environmental review process.

The Crenshaw Northern Extension project is one of several new rail projects with funding from Measure M, a countywide sales tax measure approved by 71 percent of Los Angeles County voters in November 2016. Based on the current Measure M schedule, this project is planned to start construction in 2041 and begin operations in 2047. Metro is conducting this study now as there are efforts underway to identify funding to accelerate this schedule.

Information from this study will be used to help determine which alignment options will be studied further in a formal environmental review process that is anticipated to begin in early 2020.

The public is encouraged to attend and participate in the planning of the transit project. The information at all four community meetings will be identical. All Metro meetings are held at ADA accessible facilities. Spanish translation will be provided for all meetings. Korean translation will be provided for the March 26 meeting at United Teachers Los Angeles. Russian translation will be provided for the March 28 meeting at the West Hollywood Library. Other ADA accommodations and translations will be available by calling (323)466-3876 or California Relay Service at 711 at least 72 hours in advance.

For information, call (213)418-3093, email crenshawnorth@metro.net or visit metro.net/crenshawnorth.