Politics & Government

BHUSD Files Suit to Block Westside Subway Route

The action could prevent Metro from routing the subway under Beverly Hills High School.

The Beverly Hills Unified School District filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court asking a judge to set aside the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's . 

The lawsuit argues that the MTA should not be allowed to move forward with plans for the extension, , because it violates the California Environmental Quality Act, a statute that requires state and local agencies to identify significant environmental impacts potentially caused by their actions—and to avoid or mitigate those impacts. 

The project's Final Environmental Impact Statement/Report calls for tunneling under Beverly Hills High School, which  due to safety concerns.

Find out what's happening in Beverly Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to a statement released by BHUSD's legal team:

Metro failed to comply with CEQA “due to a rush‐to‐judgment” in locating the Westside Subway Extension station in Century City at Constellation Boulevard. The lawsuit alleges that the Metro board made its decision without considering the full and complete information about alternatives needed to adequately make an informed choice.

"It is unfortunate that the MTA has turned a deaf ear to our concerns and forced the district to go to court in order to get a fair hearing," BHUSD Board of Education President Brian Goldberg told Patch. "We are pleased that the process is moving forward and we will finally have an opportunity to present our data, witnesses, and cross examine witnesses—something that we were denied by the MTA board at the ."

Find out what's happening in Beverly Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The controversial Westside Subway Extension is a $5.6 billion expansion of the Purple Line to Beverly Hills, Century City, Westwood and the Veterans Administration Medical Center.

At a public hearing requested by the city of Beverly Hills, attorneys hired by the city presented the Metro Board of Directors with  for reaching a station on Constellation Boulevard that did not require tunneling under BHHS.

To read BHUSD's CEQA challenge against Metro, see the PDF file attached to this article. 

Do you support the lawsuit filed by the Beverly Hills Unified School District? Tell us in the comments below.


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