Metro Rail Milestone

Some little-noted but significant steps have been taken recently to ensure that work on Los Angeles’ much-needed subway will continue and that the project will reach the San Fernando Valley--and, eventually, other parts of town as well.

Last Wednesday the Los Angeles City Council agreed to spend $124 million to help build the second phase of the subway, whose first leg--from downtown to MacArthur Park--is already under construction. That is a substantial increase--$89 million, to be exact--from the $35 million that city officials initially agreed to contribute to the second phase of the $3.4-billion subway project. But it is money well invested, because it is the kind of local commitment that Congress must see if it is going to continue paying for its share of Metro Rail, which is 56% of the project’s total cost. On the same day the council voted the extra money, Rep. Julian C. Dixon (D-Los Angeles) promised to renew his efforts to persuade Congress to put up $350 million to $400 million in additional funding for Metro Rail. The federal government has already agreed to allocate $667 million on the second phase of the subway.

Almost as important as the assurance of continued Metro Rail funding was a decision made last month by the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission as to precisely what route the second phase of the subway will take. Metro Rail will travel west from MacArthur Park along Wilshire Boulevard to Vermont Avenue, then head in two directions. The principal route will be north along Vermont to Hollywood, then through Cahuenga Pass into the San Fernando Valley. A secondary route to the west will be along Wilshire to Western Avenue, ending there.

While significantly shorter, this western route is just as important as the route to the Valley. It is an assurance to residents of the Westside that someday Metro Rail will reach important business centers like Century City and Westwood. Like the original plan to build Metro Rail’s first route to the Valley, the decision is political. It is designed to generate the public support needed to keep the project moving forward.

We fully expect naysayers, who have complained all along about the challenges that are posed by a massive undertaking like Metro Rail, to criticize the subway’s short western leg. But the project is proceeding because responsible city leaders are convinced that this region needs a subway to help meet its transportation requirements. And it will not be stopped until somebody comes up with a better idea that everyone can agree on. It is pointless to wait for that to happen. Better to proceed with the project and wait instead for that day early in the 1990s when Angelenos finally begin riding their new subway.