Metro Rail Drops Wilshire Route; Plans Alternatives

Their hopes for a Metro Rail line along the Wilshire Corridor dashed, directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District on Thursday revived alternative plans for westbound routes along Pico and other boulevards.

The board’s retreat from running a separate branch along Wilshire came in a special meeting prompted by objections from Rep. Julian Dixon (D-Culver City), a key strategist in obtaining federal funding for Metro Rail.

Dixon, whose district would be better served by the proposed Pico Boulevard route, had helped Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) author a federal law prohibiting tunneling into sections of the Wilshire Corridor because of methane gas pockets.

Despite the ban on tunneling and public opposition to an elevated route along Wilshire, the board last Friday adopted a new route plan for the proposed $3.8-billion project, giving Wilshire a high priority.

References to Route Deleted

In a meeting with Dixon in Washington on Tuesday, RTD Director Marvin L. Holen rewrote the proposal to satisfy the congressman. In a resolution adopted by the RTD board Thursday, it was stipulated that further efforts will not conflict with federal law. Moreover, references to studies of elevated or subway Wilshire routes were deleted.

Holen, chairman of the RTD’s Metro Rail committee, said Dixon’s impression was “that in some fashion the district was trying to circumvent the law. . . . His advice was that we work it out without flouting the law.”

Members of the board said Dixon misunderstood their intentions, variously characterizing the controversy as an “unfortunate misunderstanding” and “a tempest in a teapot.” RTD board President Jan Hall called the board’s action Thursday “nothing more than a clarification.” Director Nate Holden disagreed, calling the board’s actions last Friday “the height of arrogance.” Holden was the lone dissenter last Friday, instead urging that Wilshire be dropped in favor of a route running west on Pico Boulevard, then turning north on San Vicente and terminating at Wilshire.

Despite the RTD board’s action, some members held out hope that lobbying by private interests and perhaps the City of Los Angeles could lift the ban on tunneling and ultimately revive a Wilshire subway.

‘Overwhelming’ Opposition

The tunneling prohibition, Holen asserted, is contrary to the wishes of the community at large. While public opposition of a Wilshire “el” has been “overwhelming,” so too has the support for a Wilshire subway, he said.

RTD officials maintain that such tunneling can be done safely despite the presence of methane gas. However, Waxman’s resolve appears unshakable.

In officially forsaking Wilshire, Holen said, the RTD “wipes the slate clean” in its planning process. The goal now, he said, is to find routes that are both economically and politically feasible.

The Pico Boulevard route--previously considered a “safety valve” to the Wilshire plan--now comes to the fore. Other westbound options--though now thought to be less viable than Pico--are along Olympic, Venice and Washington boulevards.

Meanwhile, another RTD director, Nikolas Patsaouras, called for $1 million to study routes running east from Union Station into East Los Angeles.

“Maybe those people don’t want it, and maybe they don’t deserve it,” Patsaouras said of opponents to the Wilshire branch. “Why not study a route that people want?”

Holen said he would support Patsaouras’ motion, which is expected to be considered at the board’s next regular meeting on May 7.

Both westbound and eastbound routes, however, would likely have to compete with the San Fernando Valley extension, which already has wide support.

Still in place as an approved route after Thursday’s board action are plans for a Hollywood branch that would run on an elevated line north on Vermont Avenue, then west on Sunset Boulevard. These lines would connect to routes previously adopted from Union Station through downtown to MacArthur Park and a branch in the San Fernando Valley passing through Universal City into North Hollywood.

Thus far, Metro Rail has only received funding for the subway from Union Station to MacArthur Park. The entire Union Station-to-North Hollywood line would not be completed until almost the year 2000.