Opening Date for Extension of Red Line Delayed

The opening of the North Hollywood subway, anticipated as an economic boost for the area, has been delayed until next June, authorities said Thursday.

Red Line construction project manager Dennis Mori told the MTA’s construction committee that a combination of factors caused the work to run slightly behind the original May 17, 2000, scheduled opening.

But Mori said he believes crews can make up the work and still complete construction by the original deadline.

Mori blamed the delay primarily on difficulties in getting the project’s various contractors on the same schedule.

“If you have one contractor fall behind,” you have to change your projections, he said.

Mori said another reason for the delay was the fact that some workers from the North Hollywood extension were pulled off of the project to work on the Hollywood line. Those changes were made to ensure the line opened as scheduled last month.

Mori, who briefs the committee each month on the project’s status, said he was confident that he could have all the contractors back on schedule by his next report. He noted that in January he advised the committee that construction was six weeks behind schedule.

“By February we had recovered and were back to our timeline,” Mori said in an interview.

Although Mori remains optimistic about finishing the 6.3-mile extension on time, the most recent federal reports have cast doubt on the May finish date.

Hill International Inc., which performs the oversight, wrote in its May review: “We are pessimistic with respect to MTA meeting the planned May 17, 2000 [opening date]. At this point the probability of the MTA meeting the planned May 2000 date is low.”

But the report added that completing the line by the federal government’s deadline--December 2000--is “clearly within the MTA’s grasp providing it effectively coordinates the remaining work.”

The Hill report also noted that some of the restoration work at the Universal City station is also running behind schedule and will not be completed by the end of 2000.

The extension of the MTA’s Red Line will include stations in North Hollywood, Universal City and Highland Avenue in Hollywood.

Times staff writer Jeffrey Rabin contributed to this story.