LA Metro Increases Highway Expansion Budget by 40%

Metro has plans to expand freeways including the 5, 105, and 405, among others.

1 minute read

March 23, 2026, 7:00 AM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Orange bus and yellow light rail train next to each other on street with downtown Los Angeles visible in background.

The preliminary FY26-27 budget increases funding for highway expansions by 40%. | Walter Cicchetti / Shutterstock

The Los Angeles Metro expects to spend $887.1 million on freeway expansion projects in the next fiscal year, reports Joe Linton for Streetsblog LA.

According to Linton, “This section of the budget does include $46 million for bus improvements, but that's an unrepresentative fig leaf Metro likes to lead with for this program.”

As Linton points out, Metro itself reported that freeway projects induce more driving and increase tailpipe emissions. “Metro needs to understand and acknowledge its ongoing investments - billions of dollars - toward making driving more viable and more effective.” 

For Linton, “if Metro wants to take climate, equity, and mobility seriously, it needs to align its budget with these values” and scale back its freeway expansion budget.

Friday, March 20, 2026 in Streetsblog LA

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