Readers React: If Boston can survive the Big Dig, Beverly Hills can live with the Purple Line extension

To the editor: For those concerned about Metro’s Purple Line alignment, which necessitates tunneling under Beverly Hills High School, I recommend David Macaulay’s “Underground.” This book beautifully illustrates the infrastructure typically needed to support great cities.

As a transplanted New Englander who experienced firsthand the disruptions of Boston’s 10-year Big Dig, I can attest to the fact that going about one’s daily life in and around a tunneling project is definitely survivable.

I wonder whether those who oppose this project have thought about the benefits of reducing traffic (and automobile emissions) within Century City and on Olympic, Santa Monica and Wilshire boulevards — the roadways that surround Beverly Hills High School.

My suggestion for students and school district administrators who have no clue how a subway system makes it easier to get around in a traffic-clogged city: Take a field trip to Boston or New York.

Janice Blake, Manhattan Beach

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