Public’s Safety Is Paramount : MTA’s White moves quickly for much-needed outside review

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has acted wisely in postponing a major construction contract for the Red Line subway until questions about the safety of some of the already built subway tunnels are answered.

It’s more than a little noteworthy that all 13 members of the MTA’s board of directors--elected officials or their representatives who oversee the new superagency that is building Los Angeles a modern system of subways, trolleys and commuter trains--voted for the delay. The vote affects a $45-million contract for construction of a subway station at the intersection of Vermont Avenue and Beverly Boulevard.

The board’s unanimity reflects the level of public concern over whether the first 10,000 feet of subway tunnel, between Union Station and Pershing Square, would be safe in a major earthquake.

Engineers for the MTA and the private construction companies that are building the subway insist the tunnels are safe despite inspection reports, first made public in The Times, that found some parts of the Red Line tunnels were built with less concrete than called for in design specifications.

There is disagreement among experts over whether this so-called “thin concrete” is a problem. Some argue it can be easily reinforced with steel rods or plates. But others warn it might not stand up to aging or to sudden, severe seismic forces. In earthquake-prone California such concerns are never to be taken lightly.

That is why it is reassuring that the MTA’s chief executive officer, Franklin White, has decided to call in an independent panel of experts to inspect the tunnels in question and report to the MTA board.

This independent probe may find that too much has been made of the tunnel safety issue. But given the billions of federal, state and local tax dollars that have been--and will be--invested in building the modern mass transit system that Los Angeles so badly needs, the least the MTA can do is reassure taxpayers they are getting what they paid for. Public safety is no place to be chintzy.