There was some good news Tuesday in the effort to repair the 10 Freeway damage in downtown L.A. as Governor Gavin Newsom announced it will be repaired rather than demolished.
Based on the new assessment, repairs are expected to take three to five weeks instead of the earlier speculation of a months-long ordeal.
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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told KNX News chief correspondent Charles Feldman that while she is optimistic about the estimated timeframe, she says, "3 to 5 weeks...that's still tough."
"This is Los Angeles, where we haven't converted over to public transportation to the extent that we need to. But this is an opportunity for us to do that because even though we have plans in place, 300,000 cars pass over that freeway every day; that's a lot," Bass said.
Motorists using express lanes say they are being charged more because of congestion rates rather than receiving a rebate.
A Metro representative told KNX News there is no plan to change the fee as they hope it will get more people using mass transit. Bass said, "You should know that I am aggressively pursuing that. So hopefully, that will be corrected."
"Frankly, we need every mode of transportation to function, and that includes those lanes," said the mayor. She assured KNX News listeners, "I am on it, and I will report to you the second It's done."
As for the confidence with which officials declared the fire as arson, Bass said while she was told of multiple cameras in the area, she was not privy to any video footage of suspicious activity.
However, shortly after her interview with KNX News, sources told Charles Feldman cameras near the scene captured 'activity' but no identifiable faces. That, along with witness interviews, led to the early conclusion it was arson.
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Bass also said that the company leasing this area of the 10 is in court for not paying rent and several other problems, including illegally subleasing their contract with the state. "I am not a lawyer, but I would not be surprised if we look at a criminal investigation somewhere down the line," she said.
Regardless of the cause, Bass said the crew working on repairs assured her that, rain or shine, they will be working 24-7, including Thanksgiving and even Christmas, if need be.
There will be a press conference at 6:00 PM Tuesday to update the public
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