Council, City Staff Discuss Status of Westside Subway Extension

City Council members Tuesday heard a staff presentation and offered views on efforts to persuade the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to route the tunnels away from Beverly Hills High School and residential property.

Aaron Kunz, deputy director of transportation, and Cheryl Friedling, deputy city manager, delivered a recap of what officials have done regarding the issue since June:

• The council dedicated to "advocacy, technical and legal consulting services."
• The city hired geotechnical consulting firm Shannon & Wilson to review Metro's environmental impact study.
• The city intends to hire experts to assess potential impacts to existing and planned buildings, and also hire firms in the Pacific Northwest or San Francisco Bay Area to do ridership forecasting.
• Lobbying firm Arnie Berghoff & Associates is on board and has set up meetings attended by Beverly Hills council members, City Manager Jeff Kolin and officials such as Los Angeles Mayor and MTA Chair Antonio Villaraigosa, Metro CEO Arthur Leahy, L.A. County Supervisors Don Knabe and Zev Yaroslavsky, and acting State Architect Howard Smith. City staff members have also interviewed a public relations firm.

"If we're being ignored, if really there's a position that 'you can do whatever you want, we don't care, sue us,' that option will always remain as will the option ... of not only not helping Metro with the staging but of actually actively opposing it," said Mirisch, who suggested Mayor Barry Brucker read a reply letter he received on the subway issue from Villaraigosa. Brucker had on behalf of the council to him about the city's opposition to a subway going under BHHS.

"Thank you for taking the time to contact my office to express your views and concerns," Brucker read from Villaraigosa's response. "I am pleased to hear from you so that I may better serve the needs of the city of Los Angeles. Your comments are greatly appreciated and will be forwarded to the appropriate staff members or city departments and considered in all related matters."

Brucker said Villaraigosa's reply was "benign" and "unrelated to the scope and nature and severity of our concerns."

Kunz said Metro will likely release an environmental impact document in the fall and that the MTA board of directors will decide on the Westside Subway Extension's route this winter.

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