Replying to L.A. Subway Routing

While Beverly Hills public schools are not hurting for funds, $2 million (as of last April) to oppose this subway route is pretty misguided.

 

Here are a couple of letters in response to the recent L.A. Times editorial...

 

Letters: Tunnel vision in Beverly Hills

http://www.latimes.c...0,7634079.story

 

"The opposition to tunneling beneath Beverly Hills High School is small but vocal; it has been augmented by misleading and inflammatory articles in the Beverly Hills Courier, whose publisher doesn't even live in or adjacent to Beverly Hills."

 

One of the letters mentions Measure R, which was a successful ballot initiative to raise sales taxes specifically for transit purposes.

With one rail line to L.A.'s westside ready to open this weekend (Expo Line stories in another thread), another one, the Purple Line "Subway to the Sea," continues to be mired in routing obstacles. The issue of tunneling under Beverly Hills high school has reared its ugly head once again, with a lawsuit now threatened...

Subway extension runs into roadblock in Beverly Hills

"Brian Goldberg, president of the Beverly Hills Unified School District board, said it has spent more than $2 million on the issue and warned that 'a lawsuit is absolutely on the table' if, despite the hearing, Metro officials proceed without picking another route.
 

$2 million on court action!!!  And people wonder  why schools in California are broke.

You know, I know that area probably has well-funded schools, but...dear Lord, if a district was short on funds, did this (and especially if the suit was kicked as lacking merit) I'd like to see them chewed out for misusing public funds.

With one rail line to L.A.'s westside ready to open this weekend (Expo Line stories in another thread), another one, the Purple Line "Subway to the Sea," continues to be mired in routing obstacles. The issue of tunneling under Beverly Hills high school has reared its ugly head once again, with a lawsuit now threatened...

Subway extension runs into roadblock in Beverly Hills

"Brian Goldberg, president of the Beverly Hills Unified School District board, said it has spent more than $2 million on the issue and warned that 'a lawsuit is absolutely on the table' if, despite the hearing, Metro officials proceed without picking another route.
 

$2 million on court action!!!  And people wonder  why schools in California are broke.

Rich NIMBYs tend to have More Clout than Regular Folks when it comes to Influencing City Hall! "And So It Goes" as Leonard Cohen said!

A Los Angeles Times editorial knocks NIMBYs (really NUMHSs - Not Under My High School) in Beverly Hills.

 

Beverly Hills' subway spat

http://www.latimes.c...,0,862057.story

 

"Beverly Hills' embarrassing battle against the Westside subway extension, which emerged as a major political issue last year, is becoming one of the key issues in the March 5 city elections. With the lines hardening between those determined to take legal action to stop the construction of a tunnel under the local high school, which they fear will endanger students, and those who see that route as the safest alternative, we urge residents to consider the scientific and engineering reality rather than merely relying on emotion. In other words: Stop gumming up the rails, Beverly Hills, for your own sake and L.A.'s."

With one rail line to L.A.'s westside ready to open this weekend (Expo Line stories in another thread), another one, the Purple Line "Subway to the Sea," continues to be mired in routing obstacles. The issue of tunneling under Beverly Hills high school has reared its ugly head once again, with a lawsuit now threatened...

Subway extension runs into roadblock in Beverly Hills

"Brian Goldberg, president of the Beverly Hills Unified School District board, said it has spent more than $2 million on the issue and warned that 'a lawsuit is absolutely on the table' if, despite the hearing, Metro officials proceed without picking another route.

"'All we are asking for is a fair hearing,' Goldberg said. A date for the meeting has not yet been set.

"Metro board member and county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who approves tunneling underneath the high school, said that many of those in Beverly Hills advocating a different route are not basing their arguments on fact.

"'My commitment has been from Day 1 that Metro should make its decision based on science and facts, not based on hysteria and emotion,' Yaroslavsky said earlier this week. 'They're just not telling the truth.'"

Wilshire/Western station is the current western terminus of the Purple Line. UrbanRail.net photo.

Yup, it's going to be a bored tunnel.

As opposed to an interested, excited, and engaged tunnel, which is not really what you want anyway.

Is the lline supposed to be cut adn cover or bored tunnel in the vicinity of the high school?

"If approved by the MTA early next year, the proposed route would pass about 70 feet underneath one building at the high school before it curves under Constellation Boulevard, where a station is planned at Avenue of the Stars."

I don't think anybody cuts and covers at that depth, especially with a school building in the route path.

Thanks. makes the uproar look completely rediculous.
Looks like I had better work on my fumble fingered typing.

Yup, it's going to be a bored tunnel. Frankly the school buses pulling into the parking lot are likely to cause more vibration to the school then the subway running beneath it.

Is the lline supposed to be cut adn cover or bored tunnel in the vicinity of the high school?

"If approved by the MTA early next year, the proposed route would pass about 70 feet underneath one building at the high school before it curves under Constellation Boulevard, where a station is planned at Avenue of the Stars."

I don't think anybody cuts and covers at that depth, especially with a school building in the route path.

Thanks. makes the uproar look completely rediculous.
Looks like I had better work on my fumble fingered typing.

Is the lline supposed to be cut adn cover or bored tunnel in the vicinity of the high school?

"If approved by the MTA early next year, the proposed route would pass about 70 feet underneath one building at the high school before it curves under Constellation Boulevard, where a station is planned at Avenue of the Stars."

I don't think anybody cuts and covers at that depth, especially with a school building in the route path.