New RTD Plan Would Steer Metro Rail Clear of Studios on Sunset

Bowing to strong opposition from recording and broadcast studios, the RTD Thursday presented an entirely new plan for getting future Metro Rail trains through the heart of Hollywood.

The new proposal, advanced in the hopes of avoiding a time-consuming and costly lawsuit, would veer away from the sound-sensitive studios along Sunset Boulevard’s so-called “electronic mile” west of the Hollywood Freeway. Instead, a mix of elevated construction on the eastern end of Sunset and subway construction under Hollywood Boulevard west of the Hollywood Freeway would be used.

“We concluded we needed to recommend . . . an alternative,” said RTD General Manager John Dyer as he made the surprise announcement at the opening of a regular RTD board meeting.

Threats of Relocation

The previous preferred route, which prompted threats by recording, television and radio stations that they would leave the city, called for an elevated route down the middle of Sunset Boulevard all the way from Vermont Avenue to Vine Street. The studios, including KTTV, KTLA, CBS, KIIS, KNX, KMPC and KUTE, claimed the noise and vibration from the construction and operation of the commuter train would make it impossible for them to operate.

The new proposal came as the RTD board was nearing final decisions on where extensions of the Metro Rail now under construction downtown should go.

The new plan will delay that selection at least a month--until late February--and require further environmental studies and new public hearings.

Studios Optimistic

But Dyer said he expects the new proposal to become the leading candidate as the board moves to finalize the route of the downtown-to-North Hollywood commuter rail line.

RTD President Jan Hall said, “This clearly reflects that there were people listening” to the studios’ complaints.

A spokeswoman for the coalition of Sunset studios had not heard of the plan but was cautiously optimistic. “I can say it sounds very interesting,” said Brenda Young, general counsel for television station KTLA. “If this is what happens, I think it could be extremely helpful to most of the studios and stations.”

Young said only one television studio, that of financial news station KWHY, would remain immediately along the route of the elevated train.

Politically, the new proposal could be a godsend for Los Angeles Councilman Michael Woo, who represents Hollywood. Woo, a strong Metro Rail supporter, had been walking a tightrope on the issue--wanting the project as part of his larger plans to revitalize Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood, but not wanting to offend some of the community’s most important businesses.

High Cost Cited

Greater use of subway--as proposed in the latest plan--had been generally ruled out before because of the high cost. But Dyer insisted Thursday that the new plan would cost slightly less, not more, than the previous $3.8-billion preferred route.

The RTD has not yet resolved another problem in Hollywood--how to make the elevated trains turn from northbound Vermont Avenue to westbound Sunset. In one scenario, the turn would go through the site of a 45-year-old temple and in another it would knock out a surgical hospital that, among other things, houses AIDS patients. Dyer said the RTD is trying to work with the city on zoning changes that would permit the hospital to be rebuilt.