Eyewitness This: Price tag for Metro line through Sepulveda Pass swells to $13 billion

Metro is looking for new mass transit options for the Sepulveda Pass, but it's not going to come cheap.

Metro has been studying various options to add a rail line connecting riders from Van Nuys to the Expo Line just north of the 10 Freeway - making for a quick 10-minute trip. A second phase could extend to Los Angeles International Airport.

But the price tag would cost as much as $13.8 billion - significantly higher than what was first estimated by Metro.

More than $5 billion of the project is funded through Measure M, which was approved by voters. However, the remaining funding is in question.

L.A. Metro spokesman Brian Haas said the agency is looking at four options: three involve trains and subways, and the fourth could look like the Disneyland monorail.

Regardless of how the transit line is built, Metro says it's studies show it will be used to the tune of 120,000 boardings a day by its estimates.

Metro estimates more than 400,000 drivers travel through the Sepulveda Pass each day.

The Sepulveda Line is expected to open in 2033, but it could open as soon as 2028 - just in time for the Olympics.

ABC7's Rob Hayes has more on the project.

Metro is looking for new mass transit options for the Sepulveda Pass, but it's not going to come cheap.

There are upcoming community meetings to learn more about the project. They will be held:

Wednesday, July 24, 6 - 8 p.m.

Proud Bird Restaurant

11022 Aviation Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90045

Saturday, July 27, 10 a.m. - noon

Veterans Memorial Building

4117 Overland Ave.

Culver City, CA 90230

Tuesday, July 30, 6 - 8 p.m.

St. Paul the Apostle Church

10750 Ohio Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90024

Saturday, Aug. 3, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Marvin Braude Constituent Service Center

6262 Van Nuys Blvd.

Van Nuys, CA 91401

For more stories making headlines, watch Eyewitness This.