MCA Takes Rail-Site Campaign to the Mail

MCA Inc. has launched a direct mail campaign to garner public support for its proposal to relocate a planned Metro Rail station from a site on Lankershim Boulevard to a site closer to the entertainment giant’s CityWalk and Universal Studios amusement park.

In a letter urging residents to send postcards of support for the alternative location, MCA officials maintained that the planned Lankershim station would add to traffic congestion along the boulevard and displace about 200 families from their homes.

“Obviously, the support of the homeowners in the area has to weigh heavily on any decision that’s made,” MCA spokeswoman Christine Hanson said. “So we feel it’s important to get as broad a spectrum of opinions as possible.”

Hanson said the postpaid cards soliciting opinions are addressed to MCA, and will be used in a report to be presented to transportation officials at a later date.

The 8.4-acre site suggested by MCA, which would be located underground beneath the Hollywood Freeway, would reduce congestion on Lankershim and save families from being displaced, company officials said.

The planned Lankershim station would encompass 24 acres, including a six-acre parking lot on Ventura Boulevard near Vineland Avenue that would be connected to a six-lane bridge over the Hollywood Freeway.

In a hearing on the proposed change earlier this month, debate focused on the cost difference between the two stations. Transportation planners told the board’s Planning and Programming Committee that MCA’s proposed station would cost $72.4 million in construction and other costs and delay the project up to three years.

But MCA officials said there is up to $103 million in hidden costs to building the Lankershim station and that their proposal could be built for the same or less.

With a decision on the station expected by the MTA board of directors next month, MTA Project Manager David Mieger said the company’s tactic may work.

“We are always striving to have the alternative that is most supported,” Mieger said. “If they can get all the homeowners groups and the neighbors to come and say they endorse the relocated station, I think that would certainly help their case.”

The president of one local residents association said he is taking a “wait-and-see” approach before deciding whether to endorse the project.

“We’re waiting to see how Studio City is going to benefit from this,” said Tony Lucente, president of the Studio City Residents Assn. “Both stations will have a large impact.”

Lucente said he plans to meet with MCA officials in coming weeks to discuss his group’s possible support for the station.