Los Angeles Metro staff recommended a modified version of alternative five of the Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project – which includes a station on UCLA’s campus – to the LA Metro board’s planning and programming committee Friday.

The project – which aims to connect the San Fernando Valley and Westside through a mass public transit line – has involved five potential train and route options called “alternatives.” While each alternative will connect the Van Nuys Metrolink to the LA Metro E line, they vary based on the amount of stops and the use of monorail or heavy rail.

Alternative five would include a heavy rail station at UCLA’s Gateway Plaza and a connection to the Metro D Line in Westwood. 

The planning and programming committee will vote on whether or not to approve the recommendation Wednesday, according to an LA Metro Board of Directors report. If approved, the board will then be able to vote on the alternative. 

The modified version of alternative five is the only option up for approval at the meeting, according to the report.  

Michael Griffin, the co-director of Bruins for Better Transit, said he was excited about the recommendation and believes alternative five will significantly reduce travel times for UCLA students. He added that he believes the project will reduce congestion on the 405 freeway, which runs through the Sepulveda Pass. 

“Aternative five was one of the alternatives that USAC and Bruins for better transit has been campaigning for for the last couple of years,” Griffin, a fourth-year biology student, said. “We’ve been attending Metro meetings. We’ve been submitting public comment. USAC signed up on a letter this past summer expressing support for the heavy rail alternatives, so it’s very promising news.” 

UCLA student leaders and elected officials also held an on-campus rally advocating for alternatives four and five in October. 

[Related: Students and politicians gather at a rally advocating for a UCLA metro stop]

Fred Rosen, a board member of the Bel Air Association, said he believes LA Metro has been dishonest about project funding with the communities the proposed rail line will pass underneath. 

“These people are delusional, incompetent, inept and malignant,” he said. “There will never be a subway under Bel Air, period.” 

Rosen did not comment on how he believes the community will respond to the recommendation. 

A UCLA spokesperson did not respond in time to a request for comment on the recommendation and inclusion of an on-campus station. 

“This is an extremely important project, and it’s honestly a once-in-a-lifetime project,” Griffin said. “It’s really important that students get involved.”