The Beverly Hills City Council requested a public hearing for the Westside Subway Extension’s route and they got it. The hearing will be held downtown Los Angeles next week on Thursday May 17th with the Metro Board of Directors.
If you can’t attend you can listen on your phone. The phone number is 213-922-6045.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved the project’s environmental review despite protests from parents and consultants who said poisonous and flammable gases could rise from disturbed oil wells and permeate the campus, which has about 2,300 students. Metro officials said the subway could be built safely, the city of Beverly Hills and the school district have threatened to sue. The PTA came out with a video that some say is a scare tactic. Tim Buresh, an engineering consultant for the district who appears in the video suggested Friday that parts of it are over the top. He told The LA Times,
“I don’t think having the big explosion [in the video] is as helpful as it could be,” said Buresh the district’s lead engineer on the subway issue. He said that when he agreed to speak for the cameras, he did not know that special effects would be used.
Many parents feel quite different. Jennifer Terrell-Schwartz is the co-president of the 1,000-member PTA Council for the Beverly Hills Unified School District said,
“We wanted to get people’s attention,” she said. “Parents are concerned about safety. We feel Metro’s not listening to the concerns.”
Metro told the LA Times…
“It’s unfortunate,” Metro spokesman Rick Jager said. “The facts speak for themselves. When the public is presented with all the facts, they will see that the subway can be built safely.”
Here’s the video…
From Steve Hymon at The Source, Metro’s blog…
“Below is the hearing notice for the public hearing before the Metro Board of Directors requested by the Beverly Hills City Council on the Westside Subway Extension’s route in Beverly Hills and Century City. The hearing will be 1:30 p.m., Thursday, May 17, at Metro headquarters adjacent to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and is open to the public. Those who can’t be there can also listen to the meeting on the phone by calling 213-922-6045.
Quick background: The Metro Board last week certified the Final Environmental Impact Statement/Report for the Westside Subway Extension, thereby approving the overall study of the project. The Board also selected the route for the project’s first phase from Western Avenue to La Cienega Boulevard but deferred picking a route for the project’s second phase to Century City and the third phase to the Westwood/VA Hospital….”
Read the rest of this story from Metro’s The Source
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