Pico Blvd. OKd for Metro Rail Extension

The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission Wednesday approved a plan that could help settle a long-simmering dispute over where the Metro Rail subway system is built through the Westside.

The commission unanimously approved expanding the system west along Pico Boulevard to San Vicente Boulevard by the year 2000, while simultaneously pushing construction of a seven-mile stretch of subway east from downtown Los Angeles through Boyle Heights.

The proposal, which officials said could cost up to $1.2 billion, would be contingent on the federal government’s paying nearly half the cost.

“We believe the time is right to move ahead,” said Bevan Dufty, a commission administrator, after the panel authorized its staff to seek federal funding for the two projects.

Several officials said that by committing to the Pico Boulevard route, the commission may have killed efforts to build Metro Rail along the so-called Wilshire Corridor through the Fairfax District, long opposed by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles), who cites potential danger from underground methane gas deposits.

“Philosophically, I’m for going down Wilshire, but I consider it politically beyond the pale,” said Rep. Julian Dixon (D-Los Angeles), in urging the commission to move ahead with its funding request for the east-west extensions.

The so-called Orange Line would be extended 2.3 miles beyond the planned current terminus at Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue. The extension would stretch along Wilshire to Crenshaw Boulevard, south to Pico, and end at Pico and San Vicente boulevards.

Beverly Hills officials, who favor the Wilshire Corridor route, and officials from West Hollywood, who want Metro Rail built through a stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard in their city, said they were disappointed.

“The decision appears to have been a done deal,” said Clayton Griffin, an aide to West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman.

County Supervisor Ed Edelman, who sits on the commission, said he had given up trying to get Waxman to drop his opposition to the Wilshire Corridor route. “Now that door is closed, I think we have to do the next best thing.”

At his suggestion, the panel approved a plan to modify the subway station planned for Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue to allow for a connecting line that could extend to West Hollywood and Beverly Hills.

On the Eastside, the subway extension would stretch 7.1 miles from Union Station to near Atlantic Boulevard and Interstate 5 in Boyle Heights along one of four routes transportation officials are considering.

Officials said it may be a year or more before they choose a route for the Eastside extension, because several environmental studies have yet to be done.

Several commissioners said they are concerned that by pressing ahead in two directions at once, the Eastside extension could suffer. But Neil Peterson, the commission’s executive director, said that would not happen.

“We think this (plan) is the most equitable way to go, to take the maximum advantage of such federal funds as are available, and to strike a balance as we undertake the task of developing the overall system,” he said.

The proposed extensions would be in addition to the 17-mile Red Line that, when completed in 2001, will connect downtown Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley.