LOS ANGELES >> Metro unveiled an ambitious transportation plan Friday, proposing to use $120 billion from a possible future sales tax to build numerous projects, including a rail line to Las Vegas, extension of the Gold Line Foothill to Claremont and a train or freeway tunnel under Sepulveda Pass.

At first, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority was planning for a new ballot measure in November that would add to Measure R, the existing half-cent on the dollar transit sales tax passed by voters in 2008, that would extend it beyond 2039 to run contiguous with the new tax ending in 2057.

The half-cent Measure R extension and half-cent so-called Measure R2 tax, expected to undergo a public review through May, would require a two-thirds approval by voters.

But in the last two weeks, Metro has upped the ante, recommending a 50-year tax through 2067 that would allow for more borrowing and thereby accelerate completion of low-on-the-list rail and highway projects.

While Metro CEO Phil Washington favors the 50-year tax, it will be up to the board of directors to decide the duration of the new tax and what projects will be included. The board is expected to approve a ballot measure in June or July, said David Yale, managing executive officer with Metro.

Metro says polling for an additional half-cent sales tax is up around 67 percent, just enough for passage. Most residents surveyed said traffic congestion relief should be Metro’s No. 1 priority.

Metro would spend 17 percent on highway construction; 35 percent on rail construction; 20 percent on transit operations, 7 percent on repairing and operating rail systems; 2 percent on service for disabled; 1 percent on regional rail such as Metrolink; 2 percent on bike and walk paths and 16 percent would go back to the 88 cities and county.

The highway project list does not include extension of the 710 Freeway from Alhambra to Pasadena. The controversial tunneling project was omitted from the report. When asked why, Washington replied: “That is not in our plan and not on the (San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments) list that was submitted.”

Because going out 50 years was a new idea, Metro’s plan for new highway and rail projects in Los Angeles County falls into three time frames totaling 40 years: the first 15 years, the second 15 years and the final 10 years.

Those scheduled for the first 15 years with ground-breaking dates in parenthesis include:

• A Palmdale-to-Las Vegas rail line, starting with land acquisition in the high desert (2019)

• A people-mover from the new 96th Street rail station into LAX (2018)

• Gold Line to Claremont (2019)

• A dedicated busway from the Red Line station in North Hollywood to Pasadena/Gold Line (2020)

• Adding lanes to the 71 Freeway (2022)

• 57/60 freeways interchange reconfiguration (2025)

• New pay lanes, known as ExpressLanes, on the 105 Freeway (2027)

• Sepulveda Pass Transit Corridor, Phase 1 (2024)

• Westside Purple Line extension, Section 3 (2018)

• A light rail from Artesia to Union Station in Los Angeles (2023)

• Bike path extensions along the L.A. River (2023)

“This first 15-year map includes 18 projects in total, more than we thought we could do,” Washington said. “We are being very aggressive in our approach.”

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, praised Metro for including top-priority funding for the Gold Line Foothill extension from Azusa to Claremont, calling the March 5 opening of the Pasadena-to-Azusa line a success.

“I am thrilled that L.A. Metro agrees with the potential benefits in continuing with this expansion, especially given the projected regional growth in the coming years,” Chu wrote in a prepared statement Friday.

Projects in the second 15 years include: Gold Line Eastside extension from Atlantic Station in East L.A. to either Peck Road in South El Monte or to Washington Boulevard in Whittier, not both (2029); Green Line light-rail extension to Crenshaw Boulevard in Torrance (2031).

In the final 10 years — from 2047-2057 — Metro would break ground on the following: Orange Line conversion to light rail (2051); Green Line extension to the Norwalk Metrolink Station (2051); Crenshaw Line northerly extension (2049); historical downtown streetcar (2053).

“The plan helps us today, but people might say ‘my project won’t start for another 30 years,’ but guess what? You are leaving something. That is the infrastructure inheritance I am talking about,” Washington said.

While Washington took the long view, he said if voters approved a 50-year tax in November, he would be able to speed up ground-breaking dates on some of those bottom-rung projects.

“That gives us flexibility with the financing and funding. It allows us to even accelerate projects,” he said.

Under the 40-year project plan, Metro hopes to increase the percentage of the population riding trains or buses from 7 percent to 20-30 percent. In the next 40 years, Metro says it would add 3.2 billion additional riders of mass transit.