A subway extension to the Westside cleared a small hurdle Thursday when transit officials approved going ahead with an environmental impact study of the rail line.
The board of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved a $17.2-million contract with the engineering firm Parsons-Brinckerhoff to complete the report, a necessary first step before construction.
Officials doubt that ground will be broken before 2013. The line is expected to follow a route along Wilshire Boulevard before swinging south to Century City and then back north to Westwood.
The board also approved going forward with environmental studies of the downtown connector light-rail line and an extension of the Gold Line from East Los Angeles toward Whittier. In addition, the board voted to allow construction to begin -- perhaps by year's end -- on an extension of the Orange Line busway along Canoga Avenue in the San Fernando Valley.
-- Steve Hymon
