MAYOR TO PUSH FOR EXTENSION OF RED LINE EXTENSION SEEN AS PRIME BOND PROJECT.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

Promising to ``think big,'' Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is expected today to push for money to build a $4.8 billion Wilshire Boulevard subway, along with Orange Line extensions and other mass-transit projects - as part of the infrastructure bond funding being debated in Sacramento.

Speaking Thursday to a Metropolitan Transportation Authority committee, the mayor said extending the Red Line from the Miracle Mile to Santa Monica would be worth the $300 million-a-mile cost - and a prime candidate for state bonds - because of the relief it could bring to the city's traffic-choked streets and freeways.

``We think this is a great project for something like an infrastructure bond that says, 'Let's invest in public transit,''' said Villaraigosa, who plans to hold a news conference today to make a pitch for his ideas.

``The naysayers have made a lot ado about what this costs. ... We're not going to get less traffic unless we're committed to the infrastructure investment, (unless) we think big.''

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is working with the Legislature on a $222 billion infrastructure plan that includes a bond issue that would be put before voters in June or November to fund transportation projects statewide.

But the Republican governor and Democratic lawmakers are at odds over his decision to focus on freeways and freight rail rather than mass-transit projects in drafting the $107 billion transportation program, which would be funded, in part, by $68 billion in bonds.

``Right now, the L.A. focus is to make sure there is an improved transit component,'' said former Assemblyman Richard Katz, one of the mayor's appointees to the MTA board. ``At this point, the emphasis is in getting the concept into the picture - that transit needs to be a component.''

A report issued this week by the MTA estimated the 13-mile ``subway to the sea'' backed by Villaraigosa would cost $4.8 billion by the time it would be completed in 2015.

While critics say the subway would cost too much and would sap funds from other projects, Villaraigosa maintains it would be cheaper than building a new freeway and would benefit the region.

He also has high hopes that federal money would become available since Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, has dropped his longtime opposition to the Wilshire Boulevard subway and is working to overturn a ban on funding the project.

``We're obviously going to have a lot of work. We're a long way away from a subway to the ocean,'' Villaraigosa said. ``(But) what we can see here is a way to get there. We didn't have that ... months ago. It was a nonstarter. DOA. It's been resuscitated, brought back to life.''

But Katz warned that San Fernando Valley residents will likely oppose the Wilshire Boulevard subway while their own transit needs remain unmet. And he reminded Villaraigosa that Valley residents were forced to accept a less-expensive busway rather than light rail, and would resent seeing the savings spent on projects over the hill.

``Valley residents have paid a lot of taxes ... and have yet to see a return,'' Katz said later. ``More needs to be done in the Valley and the mayor agreed with that.''

While the subway plan received a generally warm welcome this week during two days of MTA committee meetings, the agency's CEO, Roger Snoble, cautioned that much work needs to be done to make it a viable option.

Lisa Mascaro, [phone]

lisa.mascaro(at)dailynews.com