The fate of the Wilshire Corridor as the path for a western extension of the Red Line rail service could be settled Wednesday when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board is scheduled to decide whether to conduct an environmental impact study of the route.
If the board approves the study, the Wilshire Corridor will be considered as an alternative to the more southerly Pico/San Vicente extension, currently the agency's preferred alignment.
The Wilshire Corridor had been the chosen Red Line route until a 1985 methane gas explosion in the Fairfax area, caused by work under the roadway. The MTA decided to reroute the Red Line at Western Avenue, bringing it southwest to the intersection of Pico and San Vicente boulevards to avoid hitting other pockets of methane.
But the subsequent discovery of hydrogen sulfide gas near Pico and San Vicente has raised questions about that alignment, prompting discussion of two alternatives--the Wilshire route and a parallel corridor to the north along 6th Street. For the moment, the prime focus of attention--and debate--is the Wilshire route.
On one side are those who argue that new tunneling techniques have virtually eliminated the possibility of another methane gas explosion under Wilshire Boulevard. Councilman Marvin Braude and several community groups want to conduct studies to determine, among other things, whether the corridor is free from hydrogen sulfide gas.
On the other side are Rep. Julian Dixon (D-Los Angeles), County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke and others, who want to bring the Red Line to Pico/San Vicente and connect it to the proposed Crenshaw-Prairie line, which would run to the airport. The MTA put the Crenshaw line plan on the back burner when it issued its proposed long-range plan revisions.
As it prepares to take up the Red Line extension issue, the MTA is being lobbied hard by, among others, Dixon and Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles). Both congressmen sent letters this month to Franklin White, the MTA's chief executive officer.
Waxman, who got a federal law passed after the 1985 explosion to keep the Red Line away from Wilshire, suggested that if the route is considered, the study should be done independently of the MTA.
"I want to reiterate my belief that an outside, independent study is necessary for a truly objective analysis of the safety risks involved in moving from Pico/San Vicente back to Wilshire," he said in his letter.
