It could be up to 10 years before subway reaches SM
MID-WILSHIRE While the “Subway to the Sea” project received a major boost from a Senate committee last week in the form of lifting a ban on tunneling along the Wilshire corridor, local officials believe it could be at least a decade before Santa Monicans see a second local rail system to accompany the highly anticipated light rail line that is currently in the works.
The vote by the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 12 not only removes the 1986 ban on tunneling underneath Wilshire Boulevard, it also removes one of the hurdles blocking the expansion of the subway line from the Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue intersection in Mid-Wilshire to Santa Monica.
But now the public transit advocates that have long championed the extension of the subway to the Westside are faced with another hurdle — finding the sources to foot the estimated $5 billion bill to bring underground transportation to Santa Monica.
Stepping into the funding picture is former Santa Monica Mayor Denny Zane, who in forming the new Subway to the Sea Coalition which aims to galvanize public transportation supporters, bringing together leaders from the invested parties, such as the business and environmental groups in the county to talk about money.
“The reality is apart from the funding of it, most people I speak to think the subway is a good idea on its merit,” said Zane, the founder of one of the city’s most powerful political groups, Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights. “It’s in the context of scarcity of resources that is where the real debate is.”
The timeline for the expansion of the subway will obviously depend on the availability of funding. Zane believes the subway would come to Santa Monica under an “accelerated schedule.”
There could be several ways the county could raise enough money to cover such an expensive venture, such as raising sales taxes and even going to the voters.
Zane estimates that another half cent sales tax would yield about $1.2 billion a year.
“There’s lots that could be done to address our transportation needs if we had that kind of resource base,” Zane said.
While the action by the Senate committee last week is being hailed as a positive first step in the right direction, the project is far from fruition. At this point, transportation officials will need to look at where the subway would fit into the long-range transportation plan, said Pam O’Connor, the chairwoman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors.
“With the sources of funding today, they can’t be funded,” said O’Connor, who is also a Santa Monica City Councilwoman. “It’s going to take bigger thinking and very possibly, the political will of the voters.”
In the meantime,O’Connor said she is looking to continue advocating for the expansion of the exposition light rail line to Santa Monica.
Linking Santa Monica to the county’s railway system, the first phase of the expo line is set to undergo construction this year, starting with the track from Downtown Los Angeles to Culver City. The second phase, which would bring the expo line from Culver City to Santa Monica, is estimated to be completed for opening around 2015.
“We need to keep our eyes on expo light rail and to get that built, and work on plan-ning and moving things as fast as we can on other possibilities such as the subway, but not at the expense of expo,” O’Connor said.
The combination of a subway and a light rail together in Santa Monica is appealing to many long-time public transportation advocates who have complained for years about the horrific vehicular congestion in Los Angeles.
Bringing commuter rail transit to Santa Monica has long been a dream for Darrell Clarke, who has been a volunteer with the Friends 4 Expo Transit since 1989.
“Traffic is horrible,” Clarke said. “We can provide a good network that makes it convenient (to get around) without a car.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 17, 2007. Read the original PDF.