As momentum grows to extend the Wilshire Blvd. subway (now known as the "Purple Line") further west, the L.A. Times' Steve Hymon offers a reality check: It's gonna take a long time to actually get this project approved, long before construction can even begin.
In fact, Metro (the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, perhaps entertaining visions of Paris, has given itself a new name) is currently digging two side-by-side 1.8-mile tunnels below Boyle Heights for the Gold Line's extension to East Los Angeles.
On most days, the machines are making about 60 to 65 feet of progress. The most they've done in a single day since work started last winter was 90 feet.
So, let's do some math.
13 miles x 5,280 feet = 68,640 feet.
Now, let's assume that tunnelers can make only 50 feet a day. Why only 50 feet?
Well, this is Los Angeles, and it's safe to assume one extremely weird thing will happen during digging. Example: tunnelers wake up a pod of dormant underground space monkeys that then destroy the Earth.
68,640 feet divided by 50 = 1,372.8 days or about 3 3/4 years.
Not so fast, says Metro spokesman Marc Littman.
The subway project, Littman says, has not received a green light from the Metro board. If it does, it would likely take seven to 10 years to get from green light to opening day, he said.
Meanwhile, the Metro website still hasn't updated its maps to include the Purple Line... c'mon, guys!
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