Metro breaks ground on nearly $4B Van Nuys Blvd light rail line

Metro broke ground on Oct. 19, 2026, on major construction of the East San Fernando Valley Line, a light rail project Urbanize LA puts at nearly $4 billion. The line will run 6.7 miles in the median of Van Nuys Boulevard, with 11 stations.

For builders holding sites near those stations, the rail is now a construction schedule, not a plan. That changes how land along the corridor gets priced.

Why it matters

Van Nuys Boulevard has carried transit-oriented zoning without a rail line to back it. Once guideway and station work is underway, the density bonuses and parking reductions tied to the corridor stop being speculative. They start pricing into land.

The line runs from the G Line’s Van Nuys Station to San Fernando Road, near the Metrolink right-of-way in Pacoima. Sites near any of the 11 stations now face a fixed timeline for entitlement and land value. The private capital response is still ahead.

The numbers

Metro’s project page confirms the route: 6.7 miles in the Van Nuys Boulevard median and 11 planned stations. The agency lists funding from Measure M, state sources, federal grants and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Metro shows the major construction phase running from 2026 through 2032, with completion of the initial segment targeted for early 2032. The page does not post a total cost.

Urbanize LA, citing a Metro news release, put the project at “nearly $4 billion.” Read that as outlet-reported until Metro posts its own updated cost. Los Angeles City Councilmember and Metro board member Imelda Padilla called the start “a historic milestone for the East San Fernando Valley,” per the release.

What’s next

Major construction runs for years, so the corridor stays a work zone through the end of the decade. For Los Angeles developers, the window on station-adjacent parcels is open now, before completion pricing sets in closer to 2032.

Watch for Metro’s updated cost and schedule disclosures. Watch also for city zoning moves along Van Nuys Boulevard as the line becomes a physical fact on the street.