California Program to Lease Land Under Freeways Faces Scrutiny After Major Los Angeles Fire
Published on November 16, 2023
LOS ANGELES—The area under an elevated Los Angeles freeway that burned last weekend, damaging a section of a key thoroughfare in the car-dependent city, was stacked with flammable materials on lots leased by the state through a little-known program that now is under scrutiny. The blaze Nov. 11 burned about 100 support columns, forcing the closure of a vital mile-long stretch of Interstate 10 near downtown that is used by hundreds of thousands of people daily. It could take crews working around the clock between three and five weeks to repair the freeway, Gov. Gavin Newsom said. Mr. Newsom said the state would reassess the practice of leasing land under roads to bring in money for mass transportation projects....