Panel OKs $150 Million for Metro Rail Work

A house panel voted Thursday to allocate $150 million to the Los Angeles Metro Rail project, the largest amount ever appropriated at one time for the proposed $4.3-billion transit line linking downtown Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.

The appropriation, which is expected to be routinely approved by the House and Senate, would provide enough funds to complete construction of the first phase of Metro Rail, a 4.4-mile subway segment stretching from Union Station to MacArthur Park.

“For now, there is smooth sailing for Metro Rail,” said Rep. Julian C. Dixon (D-Los Angeles), a strong supporter of the subway system. “The committee’s vote to allocate $150 million is a sign that Congress continues to strongly back this project.”

The Metro Rail funds, voted by the House Appropriations subcommittee on transportation, were part of a larger bill appropriating money for transit programs throughout the country. Over the next five years, the Los Angeles project is expected to receive $870 million in federal funds, most of it from gasoline tax revenues.

Local governments will match that amount from a variety of sources, including benefit assessment revenues on businesses in the Metro Rail area and the proceeds of a county sales tax set aside for transportation programs, including rapid transit.

Dixon said that the $150-million appropriation will also provide money for the rail service’s second phase, whose route and design west of downtown are still under discussion. More than $54.9 million of the federal funds will be used to begin design, engineering, property acquisition and construction of the second segment, he said.

An aide to California Rep. Glenn M. Anderson (D-San Pedro), another key backer of the program, also voiced satisfaction with the committee’s action, noting that, for now at least, the system “seems to be out of the woods.”

Less than four months ago, Metro Rail was fighting for its life.

Foes of the 18-mile subway system, including President Reagan, had been trying for years to block the program, charging that it was costly, of questionable worth and fraught with environmental hazards. In March, Reagan vetoed an $88-billion highway bill that contained funding for the subway and singled out the project as a “pork-barreling” venture that should not be paid for with federal funds.

But Congress overrode the veto by a one-vote margin, signaling its intent to appropriate the entire $870 million contained in the highway bill for Metro Rail. Under a complicated agreement worked out among congressional negotiators, the full amount will be released in varying segments between now and 1994.

Dixon predicted that the legislation containing the new Metro Rail appropriation is likely to be approved shortly by the full House Appropriations Committee and on the House floor before July 4. The Senate is expected to take up the appropriations bill later this summer.