UNIVERSAL CITY : Compromise Offered on MCA Complex Subway Stop

City transit officials have proposed a compromise for the Universal City Metro Rail station that would preserve the planned Lankershim Boulevard site but better serve the MCA entertainment complex, potentially satisfying key demands by the multimedia company and county transportation planners.

MCA has pushed hard to move the subway station to the doorstep of its Universal Studios and CityWalk complex--a proposal resisted by county transportation planners as being too costly and time-consuming.

But city analysts say in a report that the new Red Line station could remain on Lankershim but should include an entrance on the Universal Studios lot up the hill, with shuttle service between the gates and the station. Access to the entertainment center would therefore be improved without the added delays and costs of moving the station directly onto the Universal Studios lot, as MCA has lobbied for.

Both MCA executives and officials of the county Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Wednesday that the proposal appears workable, fueling hope that the long-running disagreement between MCA and the transit agency over station location could be near an end.