Taken from a Southern California Rapid Transit District (SCRTD) Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), this map shows the then-preferred alignment for what would eventually become the LA Metro Red Line.

The FEIS called for an 18.6 mile alignment, all underground, with 18 stations. The cost in 1983 dollars was projected to be $2.47 billion (or around $5.88 billion in today’s money). An alternative called for an alignment with some aerial sections for $2.41 billion, while an “Minimum Operable Segment” of just 8.8 miles with 12 stations would have cost just $1.54 billion. 

In the end, the initial 1993 segment of the Red Line was only 4.4 miles long and had just five stations (one of which already existed as part of the Blue Line). Subsequently constructed sections of the Red Line past Westlake followed a different alignment to that envisioned here. Still: a start towards alternate transportation in the auto-dominated Los Angeles area!

Source: Google Books via Laura Nelson/Twitter.