Supervisors OK Initial Step in Hospital Project
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the first step in the largest construction project in county history, even though a Los Angeles City Councilman has pledged to hold up the work until his concerns are met.
Supervisors unanimously approved plans for site preparation for the replacement to quake-damaged County-USC Medical Center. They did so after making sure a pedestrian bridge, demanded by Councilman Nick Pacheco, is included in the project.
The bridge is one of three demands Pacheco has before he will allow the Boyle Heights facility to be rebuilt. The city needs to transfer rights to an empty street in Pacheco’s district to the county before the $818 million project can proceed.
Besides money for the pedestrian bridge, Pacheco wants residents in the area temporarily relocated by the county in case of medical problems or utility outages, and a percentage of project jobs given to local businesses.
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