The four candidates running for the said in an interview airing April 2 that they oppose a subway stop at Constellation Avenue, a route that would go under .
The Westside Subway Extension is an expansion of the Purple Line to Century City, Westwood and the Veterans Administration campus. Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Brentwood are in the 50th Assembly District, but Century City and Westwood are not.
Democrats Betsy Butler, Torie Osborn, Richard Bloom and Republican Brad Torgan all appeared on the program Inside Beverly Hills, a public affairs show produced by the Beverly Hills city government. The program is hosted by local journalist Rudy Cole, who told Patch that he asked the candidates their views on Metro’s plans to tunnel under BHHS as part of the Westside Subway Extension.
"All four candidates agreed that the subway route should not go under the high school," Cole said.
The MTA released its Environmental Impact Report in which it endorsed a subway stop at Constellation Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars instead of a stop on Santa Monica Boulevard. Putting a stop at Constellation Boulevard would require tunneling under Beverly Hills High School.
Metro is hosting an open house on the Westside Subway Extension in Westwood on Wednesday night. For more information, .
The Beverly Hills Unified School District has asked families to attend the meeting to voice their opposition to the subway route.
"Despite our protests Metro has decided that the Century City subway station should be at Constellation Boulevard—which means Metro will tunnel under Beverly Hills High School if the Metro Board approves this report," the email said. "We need your support and voice to stop this injustice."
All five Beverly Hills district PTAs made similar points in their school newsletters this week. The PTA Council, an umbrella group that represents the Beverly Hills PTAs, voted Tuesday to spend up to $3,500 on banners and signs at school sites opposing the subway route.
Beverly Hills told the PTA Council that the City Council is "united and uniform" in its opposition to a subway route under BHHS.
The Beverly Hills City Council will hold a closed session April 3 to discuss possible new actions to take to oppose the subway route, Brien said. The mayor encouraged parents to attend the Thursday MTA meeting in Beverly Hills, although he will be unable to be there because of a prior commitment in Washington, D.C.
Board of Education President Brian Goldberg is one of several board members who have visited PTA meetings to urge parents to attend the Thursday meeting. At a recent Horace Mann PTA meeting, he suggested parents contact County Supervisor , whose district includes Beverly Hills. Yaroslavsky is on the MTA board that must give the final approval on the Westside Subway extension.
"Email is not so effective anymore," Goldberg said. "Please pick up the phone and call Zev’s office."
There are subways running under buildings in Europe that have been around since about the time of America declaring independence. The absurd list of excuses used to justify this position knows no bounds. The Beverly Hills Courier even had the audacity to run the headline "Metro On Track To Destroy Beverly Hills High". What an embarrassment.
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I do believe a tunnel under BHHS would not be dangerous as Metro has said. However, I also believe a tunnel under the school would mean the land would not be as safe as it was before. Also, the school may need to build, rebuild or expand in the future to meet the needs of the school, its students and the city. A tunnel would make those future endeavors much harder if not impossible. Because our children come first, the tunnel needs to be built elsewhere. George Vreeland Hill
No offense, George, but this is an engineering issue, not a matter of faith.