The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro)
will hold five community meetings on the Westside Subway Extension
Project to provide an update on Metro’s continued progress with this
project.

In April, Metro held six public scoping meetings
to obtain community input to help shape the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement/Report (DEIS/R) process that is currently underway.

Metro
now will present a summary of what was heard during the scoping period,
provide an update as Metro continues to refine the alternatives, and
discuss the potential subway construction process.

A complete listing of meetings is as follows:

• Tuesday,
  August 4, 2009, Wilshire United Methodist Church, 4350 Wilshire
  Boulevard, Los Angeles. Spanish & Korean translations will be
  provided at this meeting.
• Wednesday, August 5, 2009,
  Plummer Park, 7377 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood. Russian
  translation will be provided at this meeting.
• Thursday,
  August 6, 2009, Santa Monica Public Library, Multi-Purpose Room, 601
  Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica. Spanish translation will be provided
  at this meeting.
• Tuesday, August 11, 2009, Beverly
  Hills Public Library, Auditorium, 444 N. Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills.
  Spanish translation will be provided at this meeting.
• Wednesday,
  August 12, 2009, Westwood Presbyterian Church, 10822 Wilshire Blvd.,
  Los Angeles. Spanish translation will be provided at this meeting.

All
meetings are from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and are easily accessible by public
transit. Parking is also available at all the locations.

The
scoping meetings held in April initiate the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement/Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIS/EIR) process that was
authorized by the Metro Board of Directors last January. The Westside
Subway Extension is slated to receive partial funding from Measure R
the half-cent sales tax increase approved by voters last November.

• Two
  “Build” alternatives are moving forward for analysis in the Draft
  EIS/EIR: a Wilshire Subway that extends the Metro Purple Line via
  Wilshire Boulevard
• and; a Wilshire/West Hollywood
  Subway that incorporates all of the Wilshire Subway and also includes a
  spur from the Metro Red Line in Hollywood via Santa Monica Boulevard. A
  “No Build” alternative and a “Transportation Systems Management”
  alternative are also being considered as a required part of the
  environmental review process.

In January
2009, the Metro Board approved the two Build alternatives for further
environmental review and preliminary engineering. At the conclusion of
this phase of evaluation for the project the Metro Board of Directors
will be asked to select a Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA).
Selection of an LPA precedes final environmental review final
engineering and construction.

Content presented at these
meetings will be identical so members of the public can attend on the
day and location most convenient for them.

For additional
information or questions, please visit the Westside Subway Extension
Project web site at metro.net/westside or contact the project
information line at 213.922.6934.