Judge Frees $225 Million for Metro Rail

A federal judge today removed a last-minute obstacle to construction of the first leg of the proposed Los Angeles Metro Rail subway project by ordering the release of $225.6 million in federal funds.

Reversing a Sept. 5 ruling in which she put a temporary hold on the funds, U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green said the first 4.4 miles of Metro Rail can be considered a separate, stand-alone transit project, whether or not proposed extensions of the line are ever built. In a detailed, 19-page opinion, Green said her further review of the evidence showed that the first segment would be an important contribution to relieving Central City traffic congestion.

Metro Rail opponents had argued that no federal funds should be used until the environmental impact of the entire proposed 19-mile system to the San Fernando Valley was re-examined. Unless they obtain a quick reversal of Green’s ruling on appeal, the decision means the first major construction can begin next month along Hill Street between 4th and 5th streets. An official ground breaking was held last week.

“We’re pleased,” Southern California Rapid Transit District President Jan Hall said. “I think we can safely assume that the ruling is clear enough and strong enough that we can proceed full steam ahead.”

The legal challenge was made by two nonprofit groups, Taxpayers Watchdog Inc., a San Fernando Valley-based organization born during the Proposition 13 tax revolt, and Rapid Transit Advocates Inc., a group that says it supports mass transit but opposes Metro Rail.

“We, as before, are outraged that the RTD would take the position that four miles is a complete system,” said Eunice McTyre, a spokeswoman for Taxpayers Watchdog. She said that there are “tremendous problems involved from the environmental standpoint” and that taxpayers “are going to have to pay for it because they have not examined it properly.”

She said the groups’ lawyers are reviewing the possibility of an appeal, adding “we can’t stop if (continuing to challenge the project) is in the best interests of taxpayers.”

Green’s opinion said the subway’s first segment “is an independent, viable entity for which adequate environmental assessments have been made. . . .”

“The transit authority offered unrebutted evidence showing that the city’s present surface transportation system is rapidly approaching its physical limits and that, given projections of continued commercial development in the downtown area, Los Angeles will shortly face debilitating daily gridlock in its central business district,” Green wrote.