Earlier this week, Metro staff released its recommendations for the Locally Preferred Alternatives for the Westside Subway. While a proposed spur of the Purple Line through Wests Hollywood and the idea of extending the subway "To the Sea" were shelved for now; the final route for the last leg of the extension, i.e. whether it will have a stop at Constellation Avenue or Santa Monica Boulevard in Santa Monica, was left unresolved for further study.
This is good news for Beverly Hills' residents that are scared that a subway running beneath their homes and schools will somehow create problems for students and residents. At a recent City Council meeting following a public hearing on the extension in late September, the city voted to formally oppose an extension that runs below their city with a station at Constellation Avenue and support only the option with a stop on Santa Monica Boulevard. The Beverly Hills Courier has their full letter to Metro:
Dear Supervisor Knabe:
I am sending this letter on behalf of the Beverly Hills City Council. The City is currently reviewing the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/ Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Westside Subway Extension and will be submitting a comment letter to Metro in regards to the options studied, and on the analysis in the draft report. The City remains very concerned about tunneling under residential properties and especially under the Beverly Hills High School and the forthcoming letter will include comments, among others, on the possible track alignment options between the Wilshire/ Rodeo station and the Century City station. In advance of the comment letter, the City would like to re-iterate its support for the Westside Subway Extension Project and its strong preference for alignment through the City of Beverly Hills and to Century City along Wilshire Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard.
Sincerely,Jimmy Delshad, MayorCity of Beverly Hills
Since one of the major concerns expressed at the September 27 hearing on the extension in Beverly Hills was the long-term impacts of having a subway run under their city, I thought we could run a quick StreetPoll to either validate residents' concerns or put them at ease.
[poll id="8"]
