> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Council weighs in on new transit plans - URL: https://www.smdp.com/council-weighs-in-on-new-transit-plans-2/ - Published: 2006-01-09T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T17:02:06.000Z - Author: Ryan Hyatt - Tags: Government & Politics, Downtown, #archive-import *Some say subway could be a monorail* A recent legislative push to allow tunneling below Wilshire Boulevard might be the first step to realizing a subway once envisioned to run from downtown Los Angeles to the beaches of Santa Monica. Leaders at City Hall said they are generally supportive of the 15-mile underground transit line that would free up commuters from freeway gridlock. The project is being given a second look after Rep. Henry Waxman, who pushed through a 1986 federal prohibition on tunneling through the area, changed his mind about the dangers below Wilshire. At the time, Waxman feared construction could cause an explosion of naturally occurring methane gas. But new research has convinced him that tunneling can be done safely. A five-member safety review panel selected by Waxman and the American Public Transportation Association studied the safety of tunneling in methane-gas zones in October and concluded that tunneling can be done safely if proper procedures and new technologies are used. “I am very pleased with the panel’s findings and will make lifting the prohibition a priority,” Waxman said. Waxman has proposed legislation to Congress to lift the ban, which still needs to be approved. If it is, Santa Monicans may soon face the possibility of two mass public transit lines reaching the city’s sidewalks. Construction will likely begin in spring on the $640 million Expo line project, which will run from its outset between downtown LA to Culver City. The project is expected to be completed by June 2010. 668,A future second phase will extend all the way to Santa Monica. City Councilwoman Pam O’Connor, who sits on the Metropolitan Transportation Board, which is overseeing the Expo line project, said a subway that travels below parts of Wilshire Boulevard is also being reconsidered by transit officials. O’Connor is generally supportive of a subway, which she does not see interfering with the Expo line project. “We have multiple freeways in Los Angeles that run east and west,” O’Connor said. “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have multiple mass transit lines that do the same, especially if it gets more people out of their cars. “It’s about building a network for a westside destination that has jobs and cultural amenities.” The project is far from leaving the drawing board. Even if plans are approved, the MTA would have to find an estimated $4 billion, or more, to build it. Still, a Wilshire line could be a key link in the city’s subway system — known as the Red Line — that now covers 17 miles from downtown to the San Fernando Valley. Kate Vernez, City Hall’s coordinator for government relations, said that studies have shown the Wilshire corridor would make a great path for a subway since the building density and jobs located there would support it. However, West Hollywood officials said they hope the subway will connect to Santa Monica Boulevard at the Wilshire intersection. From that intersection, the subway would be able to travel to and from downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica. Santa Monica Boulevard, also a major business corridor, would also make an excellent path for a subway, West Hollywood officials said. Because of the controversy, Vernez is holding off drawing any conclusions about the subway line, even it’s name. Until a path is determined, she prefers calling the subway the westside red line extension. “(Environmental reports) will determine which alternatives are going to be the most competitive,” Vernez said. “Those alternatives will be considered, because we’re talking about a large amount of money to fund the project, much of which may come from the federal, state and local level.” But some leaders at City Hall aren’t even sure the project should be a subway. City Councilman Herb Katz, fearful of what a large-scale tunneling project might do to an area notorious for gridlock, said he’d prefer there be a serious look at installing a monorail instead. Monorails — above-ground, speedy transports that were once the talk of science fiction until Disneyland built one years ago — may provide a less-expensive form of mass transit than digging below ground, despite the fact they are not common. “My question is, why are we talking about doing a subway when we can do a monorail that would be cheaper and faster?” Katz said. “If they can do a subway safely, I guess I don’t have a problem with it, but we need to think about what it will do to the lives of the people who live close by as they build it.” Mayor Bob Holbrook said he prefers the subway option. “Everybody predicted that monorails would be our future, but they’re not,” Holbrook said. “I think putting one anywhere on Wilshire would be too loud, because they’re up high and people can hear them.” Councilman Richard Bloom said he’d support either a subway or monorail because either would do more to reduce freeway traffic. “A monorail is a largely academic discussion right now, but let’s say it’s less expensive than a subway,” Bloom said. “My only concern is that it would not be accepted by the business community or public at large. “We don’t have a history of above-ground trains...this isn’t Chicago.” Bloom said he was concerned by the governor’s recent state of the state speech, during which he heard talk about bolstering the transportation budget, but no talk about the Expo line or other Southland mass transit projects. “The money is tilted toward building more freeways, and in my view it needs to be tilted in the opposite direction,” Bloom said. “The only way we’re going to reduce congestion is to build the infrastructure that will encourage people to get out their cars. “Building more freeways is encouraging more people to get inside more cars, and that’s not going to help us solve our congestion problems. But the Expo line, subway or other transit systems will.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 9, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/010906.pdf?ref=smdp.com)