Wilshire Subway On Track

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villariagosa has publicly pledged to push for an extension of the Red Line subway westward from Koreatown into Santa Monica along Wilshire Boulevard. If you're not familiar with the many issues surrounding this transit project, I suggest you read "Dreaming of a Subway to the Sea."

The Los Angeles Independent recently reported that the Mayor has continued to keep the Wilshire subway at the forefront of his agenda although he is acting "behind-the-scenes." Read on:

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Westside Subway Extension Alive Again

Politics: Villaraigosa and Waxman name expert panel to study tunneling feasibility.

By ROSANNA MAH and TONY CASTRO, Staff Writers

19.OCT.05

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has gotten Rep. Henry Waxman to soften his longstanding opposition to construction of the Westside subway extension, which has been blocked for two decades by a federal ban.

Waxman, one of the most powerful members of Congress, has joined Villaraigosa in appointing a blue ribbon panel of experts to study whether it is safe to tunnel under Wilshire Boulevard from Western Avenue to the ocean.

Both Villaraigosa and Waxman downplayed the Westside congressman’s willingness to open feasibility studies.

But former Mayor Jim Hahn says that he was consistently unable during his term in office to get Waxman to reconsider — blaming the congressman as “the reason we can’t build the subway.”

Waxman’s opposition has been based on concerns about methane gas underground in the area close to where the subway tunneling would run — a hazard responsible for a 1985 explosion at the Ross Dress For Less store adjacent to the Farmers Market.

The panel will study the safety in tunneling through the area, as well as any potential dangers from methane gas zones.

How Villaraigosa was able to soften Waxman’s opposition shows an often overlooked side of the mayor’s political astuteness: the ability of a politician known for his charismatic flair for show-boating to also wield influence quietly behind-the-scenes.

“I’ve know Henry for over 35 years — I don’t think that he’s going to be wooed by charm alone,” observed former Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre, who has served as an unofficial adviser to Villaraigosa in the past year.

“I think that you have to make your case, and I think there is a case to be made for the position that the mayor has taken about the completion of the Wilshire [subway] all the way to the beach...

“There has been some movement [toward the subway extension idea] on the part of Congressman Waxman. He’s opened to the idea of listening, and I think you have to continue to push forward.

“You push forward, not steam roller over Congressman Waxman, but work with him and alleviate his concerns.”

According to insiders, Villaraigosa may also have been aided in assuaging Waxman’s concerns by the new technologies mitigating dangerous underground gases, by the Wilshire corridor’s increasing traffic congestion, as well as by the alliance with the Congressman who represents much of the Westside.

“You have a mayor who reaches out and talks about bringing people together,” notes political observer Jaime Regalado, director of the Edmund G. “Pat” Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State L.A.

“That was not Jimmy Hahn’s style or Richard’s Riordan’s style. It is Antonio’s style and it measures well with the Congressman and how it works. It’s a new ball game.”

Though he is known in political circles as the power-broker on the Los Angeles Westside, Waxman is a man who historically has been more comfortable with the nuts and bolts of public office and for downplaying his own achievements.

Press conferences, such as the one last spring where he and other Westside political figures endorsed Villaraigosa’s mayoral candidacy are rare in the Waxman playbook.

Notably, last week’s announcement of the Villaraigosa-Waxman panel appointments came in the form of a news release from Villaraigosa’s office — a stark contrast to the media hype and news conferences that have surrounded many of the mayor’s appointments and announcement during his first 100 days in office.

Understandably, a spokesperson for the mayor played down any ulterior motive in the understated manner of the panel’s announcement.

Waxman himself would only answer a request for comment on the apparent softening of his opposition to the subway with a brief written statement:

“I am pleased we'll have an independent study now and look forward to reviewing the panel's work.”

Mayoral spokesperson Janelle Erickson said Villaraigosa and Waxman have spoken privately several times about the Wilshire subway and transportation issues over the past three months.

“We are hoping,” Erickson said, “that the panel will bring back findings that will allow the MTA with, the support of Congressman Waxman to consider building a subway under Wilshire Boulevard.”

L to R: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, U.S. Representative Henry Waxman

Dreaming of a Subway to the Sea