Parks Officials End Opposition to Hillside Tunneling Project
In a blow to opponents of Metro Rail subway construction, the Los Angeles city parks department has tentatively decided to end its resistance to tunneling under Runyon Canyon Park in the Hollywood Hills and sell an underground easement to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The MTA will pay $150,000 for the subterranean pathway--about $5 million less than the price the parks department had called “nonnegotiable” only a month ago, but far more than the $1,000 originally offered.
The deal--brokered over the past week by County Supervisor and MTA board member Zev Yaroslavsky--included the promise of fast access to a $4-million trust fund to fix any damage that digging might cause to the popular hillside park, as well as an acknowledgment from the MTA that it will be liable for damages in excess of that amount.
The accord is scheduled to be presented to the parks commission on March 6 and the MTA board on March 27.
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