After the Ross Dress For Less methane explosion in 1985, Rep. Henry Waxman pushed through a bill (later turned into law) that prevented Los Angeles from digging a subway tunnel through Fairfax.
That pretty much froze any plans to get the Wilshire subway down the street beyond Western. After 22 years, Waxman has finally had a change of heart. Yesterday, Waxman led the charge to repeal his own law. The bill passed; a similar one is expected to sail through the Senate, and the president is expected to sign the repeal.
Of course, it'll probably take at least another 22 years to make this a reality, if ever. Thanks for the delay, Henry!
As the L.A. Times notes, funding remains the biggest hurdle. (And it doesn't help that voters in 1998 passed a Zev Yaroslavsky-backed measure that prohibits the use of county sales tax for new subway construction.) The L.A. Times writes:
A subway extension from its western terminus at Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue to the ocean about 13 miles away would cost at least $4.8 billion and require years of planning, design and construction. Securing federal funds at a time of massive budget deficits and fierce competition for dollars will also be no easy task.
Waxman said he agreed to repeal his earlier bill after an independent panel of experts "indicated that technologies have been developed that could make tunneling in the area safe."
Above, a map of the newly renamed Wilshire "purple line."
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