Engineering consultants told the Beverly Hills City Council Tuesday that a study of earthquake faults commissioned recently by Metro was incomplete and therefore inadequate to enable an informed decision on the Beverly Hills portion of the Westside Subway Extension.
Geotechnical firm Shannon & Wilson, Inc. was hired by the city at a cost of $100,000 to conduct a peer review of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s fault and tunnel reports. Metro staff recommended March 19 that the subway extension be routed under to Constellation Boulevard in Century City.
Shannon & Wilson suggested that the MTA order more thorough testing to determine the presence of active earthquake faults along the two proposed routes that go through Beverly Hills. Its report notes a disparity between the level of data gathered from the Santa Monica Boulevard route and the Constellation Boulevard route.
"When compared with the studies completed at the Santa Monica Station, the relatively sparse exploration data presented for the Constellation Station does not indicate, nor fully negate, the presence of faulting," the Shannon & Wilson report states. "We recommend that comparable geological and geotechnical explorations be carried out for the Constellation Station."
A key issue was the method of determining whether or not a fault is active.
"Trenching" is a more accurate though more costly way to investigate a fault zone, according to Shannon & Wilson. To date, Metro's scientists have only employed the "boring" method, which gathers a less comprehensive data set, the firm said.
Regarding tunneling below BHHS, the report indicates that tunneling probably would not impact existing campus facilities.
"The proposed BHHS underground parking garage could be constructed above the tunnel to a maximum depth of about 30 to 50 feet below grade, leaving at least 20 feet of undisturbed soil above the tunnels," the report states. "Risks associated with ground loss during construction, vibrations during construction operation, and hazards from methane and other gasses should be mitigated by the design plans and specifications for the project."
Shannon & Wilson also suggests relocating the proposed Santa Monica Boulevard station at least one block further east from its current proposed spot, which extends past Century Park East into the Santa Monica fault zone.
The 25-page report and 40 pages of related information can be found here.
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In general, I'm finding it tough to form an opinion on the Westside Subway Ext. because of all the conflicting reports, divided leadership, and differing opinions by residents opposed. Some residents claim safety concerns, some are concerned about noise or construction disruptions, others how it affects the upcoming renovation of BHHS, plus a few other opinions floating around. A fractured, incohesive message is not the way to win a debate. The ppl of BH should commit to ONE stance, anoint ONE official liaison to communicate that stance to MTA, and create ONE official online communication platform to report back the facts to the community. Otherwise this will continue to be a jumble of misinformation and miscommunication that leaves us all confused. What we have here isn't a construction problem, it's a communication catastrophe.
That one word says a great deal. We are finding that a lot of reports seem to be incomplete. George Vreeland Hill
Whether you're an old fart, a young fogey or a self-styled hipster who knows better than everyone else, Beverly Hills is, in fact, not a part of Los Angeles. While the principles of local control may be difficult for you to grasp, it has been its own independent city for almost a hundred years. And for many of us who live in BH and don't want to be subject to the whims of LA politicians but want to be able to exercise the right of self-determination, we intend on keeping it that way. While we are happy to participate in regional efforts that can benefit all of us, the region itself can thank Beverly Hills for not always kowtowing to the special interests who are able to run rampant in LA and who have caused much of the overdevelopment that has created such adverse effects for all of us. By maintaining a mostly low-rise, human-scale Community, Beverly Hills shows that there is another way and provides an oasis in the middle of a region which is becoming more and more unlivable because of bad policy decisions from the Insiders' Club of special interests.
The only legitimate argument against tunneling under BHHS is the effect on future development of the school site. The district laid out the problems in detail in a letter to the MTA last year. Why we haven't been hammering away with this argument is a mystery to me. Instead, we have a bunch of whining about safety, corrupt developers and politicians, and fear of construction inconveniences, all of which make us look like a bunch of selfish NIMBYs.
I'm sure MTA would love to have "one stance" in order to throw their millions of dollars and obliterate, but right now all these reasons are creating an overwhelming argument that MTA should give their decision pause.
But if you do want to leave from Westwood on the subway, I'm guessing it won't be from UCLA. And if you want to think about the children, how about the kids at UCLA who will not be well served by the so-called "UCLA/Westwood" station all because Metro doesn't want to tunnel under a cemetery.