BILL MAY REVIVE WILSHIRE SUBWAY.Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer Almost 20 years after Rep. Henry Waxman Henry Arnold Waxman (born September 12, 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is an American politician. He has represented California's At-large congressional district (map) in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1975. helped shut down construction of a subway under Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for H. Gaylord Wilshire (1861-1927), an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. , he introduced a bill Friday to lift his previous prohibition on tunneling in that corridor. Waxman's legislation comes after Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. announced this week that experts had determined that workers could safely build a subway through once-dangerous methane-gas zones. ``I will make lifting the prohibition a priority,'' Waxman, D-Los Angeles, said in a statement. ``I am very pleased with the panel's unanimous finding that tunneling can now be done safely.'' Waxman's bill is not likely to be heard until early next year. Villaraigosa, who is aggressively pursuing a mass-transit system in West Los Angeles
``Although this is one step in a process of many, it brings us closer to Mayor Villaraigosa's goal of giving the city of Los Angeles
Waxman sponsored legislation that banned federal funding for Wilshire Boulevard subway construction after a 1985 methane-gas explosion at a Ross Dress for Less store in the Fairfax District, near the route of the subway. Subway construction continued into Hollywood, using local sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. dollars until 1998, when the costs spiraled out of control and county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky persuaded Los Angeles County voters to ban local dollars from being used, essentially halting any further subway construction. But Waxman reversed himself after a panel of experts - including members he appointed - said building and operating a subway under Wilshire's dangerous gas zones would be pose no greater risk than other subways in the United States. Wilshire Boulevard is considered the busiest corridor in the county, with buses running every 90 seconds during rush hour, and a top choice at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for a subway route. But subways are expensive - at an estimated $300 million per mile - and federal funding would be essential. The next three-mile leg on Wilshire would cost $1 billion. Taking it to the sea would cost billions more. Lisa Mascaro, (818) 713-3761 lisa.mascaro(at)dailynews.com |
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