Metro Board Approves Tunneling Under High School to Reach Constellation Blvd.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors approved Thursday the final two stages of the Westside Subway Extension, which will involve tunneling under Beverly Hills High School to reach a station in Century City.

The board voted 7-2 to approve the final legs of the Purple Line route. Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich and Duarte Mayor John Fasana dissented. The two supported a motion calling for more study on alternative subway routes, but that motion failed.

The board majority also rejected Beverly Hills' claims that the planned route for tunneling under BHHS was unreasonable, which consultants for the Beverly Hills Unified School District and city of Beverly Hills argued at a held May 17.

The majority was made up of Metro directors Glendale City Councilman Ara Najarian, Los Angeles City Councilman José Huizar, Santa Monica City Councilwoman Pam O'Connor, county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Richard Katz, Mel Wilson and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the board's chairman.

Representatives of the Beverly Hills school district said to stop the subway from going under BHHS.

In a report , Metro staff affirmed the agency's position that it would be safe to tunnel under BHHS to reach a stop at Constellation Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars in Century City. 

The controversial route is part of the proposed Westside Subway Extension, a $5.6 billion expansion of the Purple Line to Beverly Hills, Century City, Westwood and the Veterans Administration Medical Center. The city of Beverly Hills presented the Metro board with  for reaching a station on Constellation Boulevard that did not require tunneling under BHHS.

The Metro board approved plans in late April for the first phase of the Westside Subway Extension, but  so it could consider Beverly Hills' objections to tunneling under BHHS.

The first stage of the project includes stops at Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega. Phase two has stations planned for Wilshire/Rodeo and Constellation/Avenue of the Stars, and phase three would have stations at Westwood/Wilshire and then the Veterans Administration Medical Center. The Purple Line currently starts in downtown Los Angeles and ends at Wilshire/Western.

Many Beverly Hills civic leaders and residents support the subway but are , while others in Century City and Los Angeles have  of Metro's plan.

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