Local News in Brief : Task Force Proposed in Metro Rail Dispute

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday called for the formation of a task force, including Mayor Tom Bradley and Board of Supervisors Chairman Deane Dana, to resolve the battle over Metro Rail construction between the RTD and the Los Angeles County Transportation Committee.

The transportation committee moved two weeks ago to take over construction of the second phase of Metro Rail from the Southern California Rapid Transit District. Federal authorities with power to fund the project have urged Los Angeles transit officials to resolve their dispute. Every month of delay adds about $11 million to the cost of the project, transit officials say.

Before the City Council acted, Councilman Nate Holden abandoned his effort to get the council to side with the RTD in the dispute. Holden instead called for the mayor to chair a group made up of Dana, the president of the League of California Cities, representatives of the RTD and the county transportation committee, and Holden himself, as chairman of the council’s Transportation and Traffic Committee.