May 21, 2025
By Brian Hews
After spending years slow-walking their way out of having a Metro station, thanks to Bruce Barrows, Chuong Vo, and Naresh Solanki, Mayor Frank Yokoyama and Mayor pro tem Lynda Johnson have a majority to work with on the Cerritos City Council. Now, it could be all aboard the light rail express again—even though that train has practically left the station.
At its May 22 meeting, the City Council will review an “informational report” about the long-gestating Southeast Gateway Line (SEGL), formerly known as the West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor.
That’s the light rail line Metro has been planning since the Bush administration. The first Bush.
To catch everyone up: Metro has finally cleared all environmental hurdles and is ready to build the 14.5-mile rail line from downtown L.A. to Pioneer Boulevard in Artesia, skipping Cerritos entirely. Yes, skipping Cerritos—the same Cerritos that bills itself as the retail and cultural capital of southeast L.A. County.
Once upon a time, Metro actually floated not one but two potential station sites in Cerritos: one at 183rd and Gridley, the other at Bloomfield and Del Amo.
But in 2022, after a long list of community meetings, political posturing, and “planning efforts” – City Hall speak for Barrows’ delays – Cerritos managed to fumble away both opportunities. Metro moved forward without them, planting a terminus flag in Artesia instead.
Fast forward to 2025, and suddenly, Cerritos wants back in. Why? Because there are competent City Councilmembers again, who know that light rail lines bring things like people, money, and relevance.
So here comes the grand plan: The City will now study the possibility of a future station. That’s right—not build one, not commit to one—study one.
The platform at 183rd and Gridley was built wide enough to accommodate a station someday, just in case the City changed its mind. And lo and behold, they might be changing it.
On April 10, the City Council asked staff to start talking to Metro again. That led to a letter of intent on May 2, which in government time is like Usain Bolt-level speed.
The letter restates the City’s desire to conduct—you guessed it—a study of possible station sites with Metro’s help. The City will now hire a consultant to look at where and how a station might work, specifically something that could, naturally, serve the Los Cerritos Center.
The whole thing is framed as a triumph of regional cooperation. Still, the subtext is clear: Artesia lapped Cerritos in the race for relevance during the Barrows/Vo/Solanki era, and now, with a new majority, Cerritos is trying to leap back on the track without spilling its Starbucks.
Still, hope springs eternal in local government. As the report proudly notes, the Memorandum of Understanding signed last year leaves the door open for Cerritos to get their way back onto the route map.
And if the consultant comes back with a glowing report, and if Metro still has the patience, maybe—just maybe—Cerritos will one day get a station of its own.
Until then, enjoy your drive to Artesia.
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