LAX Metro Line

In response to “Aviation Authorities Fear Hazard From Metro Line” (Metro, June 26):

What about a subway under Los Angeles International Airport to eliminate the navigational hazards as the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Airports suggest?

The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission (LACTC) in an environmental impact report (EIR) two years ago rejected a 1 1/2-mile subway under the airport as “too expensive” at a cost of $250 million.

Officials offered instead, for $125 million, to put a station at Parking Lot C, where passengers could offload themselves with baggage into a shuttle bus that would take them around to the airline terminals.

The light-rail trains to Parking Lot C would have to cross the end of airport runways at grade and go into the elevated structure through Westchester. The trains and lights would be confusing and hazardous to aircraft landing at the airport. According to the EIR of LACTC, the elevated structure would snake its way through Westchester and contribute to surface street congestion in that airport community.

A subway from Imperial Boulevard could go north and access three terminals directly. The other terminals would be reached via moving sidewalks and baggage carts. The rail line itself would continue into Westchester, Marina del Rey and the San Diego Freeway at Culver Boulevard.

The light-rail problem at the airport is not a mere “poor communication” difficulty, it is a fundamental error. LACTC wants a “cheap” solution to improve ground access to our multibillion-dollar investment in the airport.

LACTC should get going on a subway, stop wasting more time and do the job right.

ABRAHAM FALICK, Chairman, Coalition for Rapid Transit, Los Angeles