The transporation project-accelerating Measure R2, now known as Measure J, is moving ahead and will likely appear on the November ballot, according to The Source (the Democrat-controlled legislature still needs to approve it, but that shouldn't be an issue). If passed, Measure J would extend the current Measure R sales tax, ok'd by a supermajority of LA County voters in 2008, another 30 years, to 2069. By extending the tax, Metro will be able to borrow against that guaranteed income and advance several transit projects--the Purple Line extension to Westwood, the Eastside Gold Line extension to South El Monte or Whittier, the Metro Connector to LAX, the Green Line South Bay extension to Torrance, the West Santa Ana Branch Corridor project, the Sepulveda Pass Transit Corridor project, the Gold Line to Monrovia Montclair--allowing them to open years sooner than currently planned. It remains to be seen if people will endorse the initiative in the current crappy economy, though many older voters won't be alive in 2039, so maybe they won't mind.

The ballot language, from The Source:

Accelerating Traffic Relief, Job Creation.

To advance Los Angeles County's traffic relief, economic growth/ job creation, by accelerating construction of light rail/ subway/ airport connections within five years not twenty; funding countywide freeway traffic flow/ safety /bridge improvements, pothole repair; keeping senior/ student/ disabled fares low; Shall Los Angeles County's voter-approved one-half cent traffic relief sales tax continue, without tax rate increase, for another 30 years or until voters decide to end it, with audits/ keeping funds local?

· Measure R extension designated as Measure J on November 6 ballot [The Source]

· Measure R2 Archives [Curbed LA]