SUBWAY PLANS EMERGE AGAIN PANEL BACKING WESTSIDE TRAIN.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

Even as they promoted today's ribbon cutting for the San Fernando Valley's long-promised Metro Orange Line, the mayor and transportation officials set the stage to revive construction of a costly Westside subway.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced on Thursday that the expert panel he convened to study the safety of tunneling under Wilshire Boulevard's dangerous gas zones, where there had been a methane gas explosion 20 years ago, had concluded its four-day session with a full endorsement of its feasibility.

``This is great news,'' said the mayor, announcing the findings at a Metropolitan Transportation Authority board meeting.

``Preliminarily this expert panel has opined, unanimously by the way, without any objection, that it is safe to build a subway down Wilshire Boulevard ... There's the technology and the expertise here in Los Angeles and around the country that can safely tunnel under and through Wilshire Boulevard.''

The study is a first step in trying to persuade Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, to ask Congress to overturn his ban on tunneling under Wilshire, which had been put in place following the explosion at a Ross clothing store in Mid-Wilshire in 1985.

Waxman said he was encouraged the panel reached a unanimous conclusion.

``This report is going to be very important and I'm looking forward to reviewing it,'' the congressman said.

``If I can be convinced there is no safety problem, I will work to remove the barrier to drilling in that area.

``I've said consistently ... that my only objection to any tunnel through that area was the possible safety concerns to the city's designation of the area as an extremely high methane zone,'' he said. ``The purpose of this panel was to resolve these issues.''

The mayor's announcement comes just as the Valley is about to open the Orange Line after decades of debate and billions paid in transportation taxes toward a regional system.

The 14-mile Orange Line busway was a compromise after the Valley lost its chance for a subway and light rail to neighborhood infighting and cost overruns on the Red Line subway that eventually forced the MTA to halt all rail construction.

Officials are expected to gather this morning for the ribbon cutting of the Orange Line, followed by free public rides Saturday and Sunday.

The Orange Line had its first collision just before 4 p.m. Thursday when a northbound motorist driving on a suspended license ran a red light at Vesper Avenue and hit an eastbound bus, authorities said. There were no injuries.

Shortly after taking the helm of the MTA in July and after having campaigned on bringing a subway to the sea, Villaraigosa called for the panel of experts to study the safety issue on Wilshire.

The experts meeting in Los Angeles this week found that despite the methane gas explosion at the Ross store in Mid-Wilshire that led to safety concerns 20 years ago, if the MTA were to build and operate a system there today ``the risk would be no greater than other subway systems in the U.S.''

Still, funding a Westside subway remains a giant obstacle, in part because the MTA is banned from using local sales-tax revenue for planning or building underground due to the subway spending fiascoes of the 1990s.

Voters countywide overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure in 1998 to halt using their 1 percent of the sales tax on subway building after Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky led the drive to rein in the MTA's spending on the $4.5 billion Red Line.

Supervisor Yvonne Burke, also an MTA board member, said Thursday that it's time to consider making an exemption to the ban to help fund Wilshire. She welcomed the panel's findings.

``It breathes new life in. What was the situation when Ross blew up today is The Grove.''

But Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich believes that voters are not yet ready to allow MTA to tap sales-tax funds earmarked for a regional transportation system to pay for a single line, an aide said.

Yaroslavsky - who supports the subway on Wilshire - said it should be paid from other sources, and not by overturning the sales-tax ban.

``(MTA) would spend every last nickel it could on subway(s). At least because of prior experience, MTA cannot discipline itself.''

Lisa Mascaro, [phone]

lisa.mascaro(at)dailynews.com

ORANGE LINE

The MTA's Metro Orange Line is a $330 million busway that stretches 14 miles between the North Hollywood subway station and Warner Center.

--It will open this weekend, with free rides 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday and 5 a.m.-midnight Sunday. Community celebrations are planned Saturday at the Warner Center, DeSoto, Balboa, Van Nuys and North Hollywood stations.

--Regular service starts Monday. Buses will run every 6-10 minutes during rush hour and every 10-20 minutes at other times. Service is from approximately 4 a.m.-1 a.m. daily. Buses stop at all 13 of the stations along the route.

--The fare is $1.25 one way or $3 for an unlimited day pass. Tickets are available at vending machines at all stations.

Fares are on the honor system, so riders don't have to show the driver a ticket before boarding. However, passengers caught without a ticket by fare inspectors can be fined up to $250.

--Station parking is free at six park-and-ride lots: Winnetka Avenue, and Reseda, Balboa, Sepulveda, Van Nuys and Lankershim boulevards.

--Food and beverages are banned on the buses and passenger-loading platforms. Violators may be cited, and the fine is stiff.

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ORANGE LINE (see text)