County Tunneling Permit Averts Penalties for MTA
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been saved from the threat of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in added subway construction costs, the potential bill if subway tunneling had been forced to halt at the Los Angeles River in North Hollywood for lack of the required county permit to dig under it.
The county Department of Public Works said Tuesday that it had expedited the permit, but with many conditions to guard against damage to the vital flood control channel.
A Public Works official said the permit was issued Monday, about six weeks sooner than would have been usual, and without requiring the MTA to immediately answer a key question about tunneling risks.
The MTA initially sought the permit from the county agency, which operates the flood control system, in July 1994. But for 1 1/2 years, the transportation agency failed to answer a list of questions from Public Works engineers about how tunneling might harm the concrete-lined channel.
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