Transit Chief Vows to Check Subway Contractors’ Expertise

County transit chief Joseph E. Drew said Wednesday he will seek a second opinion from outside tunneling experts on the qualifications of firms bidding on a lucrative contract to supervise the Eastside subway project.

Drew acted one day after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority inspector general found “no evidence of improper influence, bias or favoritism” in the staff recommendation on the contract. But the confidential report from the inspector general found “systematic weaknesses” in the MTA’s review of some of the contractor’s credentials.

“We’re going back through every step of the process,” Drew said. “It’s very important for us to assure . . . to everybody who is watching us that our process is credible.”

County Supervisor Gloria Molina, an MTA board member, had questioned whether the recommended firms have enough experience in supervising tunneling. She also questioned how firms allied with her longtime rival, City Councilman Richard Alatorre, were recommended to supervise the project.

In a related development, the MTA board bypassed busy Wilshire Boulevard as the Red Line route through the Mid-City, choosing instead to study an alignment that would take the subway southwesterly from Wilshire and Western Avenue under Wilton Place and Arlington Avenue to Pico and San Vicente boulevards.