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Politics & Government

Westside Neighborhood Council Backs Constellation Subway Station

The panel votes to support the stop rather than one proposed for Santa Monica Boulevard.

The Westside Neighborhood Council voted Thursday to support building a subway station at Constellation Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars as part of the Purple Line extension.

Nine council members favored the Constellation stop as opposed to a station proposed for Santa Monica Boulevard. Three members abstained after hearing the proposal from Susan Bursk, president of the Century City Chamber of Commerce.

Bursk told the council that more than 27,000 employees work within a one-quarter mile radius of the proposed stop on Constellation Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars. That's about three times as many people who work within a quarter mile of the proposed Santa Monica Boulevard station, Bursk said. Constellation Boulevard is one block south of Santa Monica Boulevard.

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Bursk acknowledged that the proposed station would likely require digging a tunnel under Beverly Hills High School, an option the Beverly Hills Unified School District strongly opposes.

“The tunnel will be located so far underground that no building or modernization project will ever come close to it,” she wrote in a packet given to council members.

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In other business, the council voted 11 to 0 with one abstention to support WNC member Mike Eveloff’s request to ask the city attorney to study the feasibility of implementing a borough system in Los Angeles. Eveloff said the city might benefit by dividing into smaller, mostly autonomous boroughs. 

“There’s a lot to this,” Eveloff said. “This is not something you study in a week.”

The council also voted 8 to 0 with four abstentions to ask Metro to make the proposed bike path along the Exposition Corridor rail line more friendly for riders by raising it above street level when possible.

Resident Jonathan Weiss said that, under the current plan, the bike path drops to street level at some intersections, even when the train crosses on a bridge. He asked that Metro consider building bridges for riders for safety reasons. 

“It’s hard for bikes,” he said. “It’s going to be at least as bad for cars. It’s not going to be pleasant for anyone.”

Also on Thursday, the council heard from Lisa Mowery, acting chief financial officer for the Bureau of Sanitation. Mowery warned about the city’s antiquated sewer system. She said the bureau would require a rate increase of about $32 annually per household for each of the next 10 years.

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