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Metro Approves Plan to Tunnel Under Beverly Hills High School Despite NIMBY Objections
Beverly Hills' worst fears have been realized: Metro's board today approved a plan to dig a tunnel under Beverly Hills High School for the Purple Line that will bring a subway all the way to Century City and Westwood.
The plan has sent city and school officials in 90210 into a tizzy. The board had delayed approving the extension of the subway, while it listened to the city's concerns that pockets of methane gas could cause scary, blockbuster explosions that could hurt their children. Officials asked that the plan be delayed while their concerns were evaluated. (A video spoof mocked this stance for being narrow-minded.)
But a Metro report that came out this week urged the agency to go ahead with the project. It acknowledged that the project would be tunneling through a methane zone in Beverly Hills, but pointed out that the there is much more methane in downtown where it has been a non-issue.
Today's vote approved the next two phases of the extension that will bring the Purple Line to Century City and then to the Veterans' Administration on Wilshire, according to City News Service. The extensions were approved at 7-2 with Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich and Duarte Mayor John Fasana dissenting and calling for more study.
When will you get to ride it? Metro hopes to break ground next year and then open the segment to La Cienega in 2022, to Century City in 2026 and the VA hospital in 2036. Local officials are asking for federal money to speed up the process.
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