Exploratory drilling completed for LA Metro extension

Joined by local elected officials from Los Angeles County and nearby cities, Los Angeles City Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the completion of exploratory drilling in West Los Angeles is a key part of the planning and environmental process for the proposed Westside Subway Extension, a regionally beneficial Measure R transportation project.

"Every day, 40,000 to
80,000 cars travel along Wilshire Boulevard, coming from all corners of the
county. From Long Beach, the San Gabriel Valley, the San Fernando Valley,
people drive Wilshire to get to work. Bringing the subway to Westwood will help
the entire county get here faster, with less pollution every day," said Mayor
Villaraigosa.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (Metro) has conducted soil samples at approximately 70
Westside locations over the last two and a half months and has sent those
samples to labs for analysis. The testing will assess below ground soil
conditions to allow planning for the subway route and the use of drilling and
construction techniques/technology. The testing is required to prepare the
Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (Draft
EIS/EIR) now in progress. The Draft EIS/EIR is evaluating all aspects of the
proposed subway extension including identifying benefits and impacts once it is
in operation, potential construction impacts, and identifying potential
mitigations.

The subway project is
expected to have major benefits throughout the region. The Westside has been
identified as the county’ second highest job density center after downtown Los
Angeles. More than 310,000 people travel into the Westside every day from other
areas. Together, the Westwood/UCLA, Century City and Beverly Hills areas
account for about 150,000 jobs.

A Westside subway would
result in dramatic travel time savings. Travel times to Westwood/UCLA, for
example, would improve by about 30-60 percent from various parts of the region
compared to existing bus and rail schedules. It is estimated that it would take
about 13 minutes to get from Koreatown to Westwood/UCLA via subway. That same
trip today takes 36 minutes via Metro Rapid buses. A trip from North Hollywood
to Westwood/UCLA is estimated to take 42 minutes via subway. The same trip
today would take 61 minutes via a combination of Metro Rail and Metro Rapid
service.

At the end of this phase
of the environmental review process next year, Metro will recommend a route,
called a Locally Preferred Alternative that will include mode, alignment and
station locations to its Board of Directors for consideration. The Board’s
approval is required before any subsequent phases – including final
environmental analysis, final design/engineering or construction – could begin.

Metro is currently
considering two build options for the Westside Subway Extension, including a
Wilshire subway that extends the Metro Purple Line via Wilshire Boulevard and a
Wilshire/West Hollywood subway that incorporates all of the Wilshire subway and
also includes a spur from the Metro Red Line in Hollywood via Santa Monica
Boulevard. A "No Build" alternative and a "Transportation Systems Management"
alternative that involves efficiency improvements to existing road and transit
networks is also being considered as a required part of the environmental
review process.

Approximately 76,000 new
system-wide transit boardings would be generated by the Wilshire Subway project
to Westwood and 116,000 new system-wide transit boardings for the combined
Wilshire/West Hollywood subway extension.
 Metro estimates the cost of the
project to be $4.1 billion for the Wilshire Subway project to Westwood/405,
$6.1 billion for the full Wilshire subway alternative to Santa Monica and $9
billion for the Wilshire/West Hollywood subway combination alternative in 2008
dollars.

The passage of the
Measure R county sales tax for transportation improvements in November 2008
created a source of partial funding for the project of $4.1 billion. Metro will
likely consider ways to leverage these funds, potentially as matching funds
from federal appropriations, from public-private partnerships and from other
potential sources to gain additional funding.