MTA Teams With Mayor to Greenlight Metro Expansion

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The Los Angeles County Metro Transportation Authority’s Board of Directors voted 11-1 today on a motion headed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The motion looked to certify a Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) regarding the extension of the Westside Metro Subway.

The plan involves a 9-mile subway extension from the Wilshire-Western station to the Westwood-VA hospital, which could potentially get riders from Westwood to Downtown L.A. in just 25 minutes.

People like Anh Nguyen of the Central City Association believe this extension has been a long time coming.

“Businesses and residents on the Westside have long waited for dependable alternatives to transportation other than the use of a car,” Nguyen said, “and this project responds to that call.”

Supporters of the extension say that the building of seven new subway stops will add jobs to the economy. However, there were dozens in attendance imploring the board to wait for all the data, which would show the dangers of their current plan.

“We understand that there are jobs involved. We want those jobs,” said Michelle Rose, PTA President at Hawthorne Elementary. “But we want safety for those workers as well as safety for our children. Going under the high school where we aren’t sure what’s under there . . . There’s oil saturation. There [are] methane gas pockets. [If] they get in there and start working and we have a collapse or a problem, it affects not just the workers, but our school, our building, and our children.”

Some believe that the board of directors is rushing the expansion process without fully checking all of the safety risks involved with putting subway tunnels under schools. Mayor Villaraigosa assured skeptics that all necessary precautions would be taken on the project.

“We take the issue of safety very seriously, particularly the safety of children. Safety, without question, will be one very important consideration.”

After today’s vote, the MTA Board of Directors will meet again in May to seek approval to begin initial construction.