Los Angeles: Building a Freeway to the 20th Century
By Nick Sifuentes - Aug 6th, 2008 at 11:24 am
It’s not exactly news that most Americans are trying to cut back on fuel consumption these days. In places like Washington, DC, and especially in New York City (where half of the population doesn’t own a vehicle), it’s easy to find alternatives to driving. In other cities, particularly those set in the sprawling West, it’s a lot more difficult to get around without your own car. In an effort to help people save gas, Los Angeles County’s transportation agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has been trying very hard to beef up L.A.’s existing subway system by adding a new line that would stretch from downtown all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
This line, aptly referred to as the “Subway to the Sea,” would run along what is probably the most important thoroughfare in the whole city–Wilshire Boulevard–and would have stops in nearly every major district in the city. As anyone who has driven along I-10 to Santa Monica or I-405 as it runs through L.A. can attest, this is one of the most heavily traveled parts of the county.
The line was first conceived of in the 1980s and blocked by NIMBYs in Beverly Hills who got their Congressman, Henry Waxman, to pass federal legislation banning subway construction along Wilshire, ostensibly because of fears of “gas pockets” underneath the street. By June 2007, however, those gas pockets had apparently dissipated, and Waxman got the legislation repealed and securing federal funds to partially cover the costs of building the new line. When the MTA realized it was still a bit short, it sought to cover the difference via a half-cent sales tax increase in L.A. County. The plan was to put a measure (Measure R) on the November election ballot. If two-thirds of the LA County voters voted in favor, it would go into effect, raising L.A.’s sales tax to 8.75 percent. The MTA’s board of directors voted nearly unanimously to put the measure on the ballot. Sounds good, right?
Enter Gloria Molina, one of the five Supervisors in L.A. County. A Democrat, Molina represents downtown L.A. and the eastern corner of the county. On Tuesday, she cast the deciding vote on placing Measure R on the ballot. She voted against it. Her reason? Alleged backroom dealings by another Supervisor, Zev Yaroslavsky, which she felt would steer too much of the revenue to his Westside district. Perhaps Molina missed the part of the meeting where it was explained that the subway was to run through the Westside? Two Republicans, Mike Antonovich and Don Knabe, also voted against the bill, citing their rabid desire to make sure L.A. citizens wouldn’t have to pay, on average, the extra $25 per year the measure is expected to cost per person. (Never mind that we Angelenos probably each waste at least $25 a year on gas as we sit in stalled freeway traffic.) Way to be true American heroes, guys.
So what happens now? Well, the MTA’s lawyers are preparing to sue to get the measure qualified for the November ballot without having to spend an additional $10 million drawing up a separate ballot specifically for Measure R. Meanwhile, I wrote a friendly little missive to Ms. Molina, the conclusion of which I felt like repeating here:
Los Angeles had a chance to join New York, Portland, San Francisco, Washington DC and other American cities in providing a clear alternative to the sprawl and traffic that are two of the region’s largest problems. You have scuttled that future, and as your constituent, I am not certain that I would again cast my vote for someone with such a narrow-minded, myopic view of Los Angeles’s future. I would hope that you could rededicate yourself to the principles your party and your politics suggests you possess.
Maybe one letter isn’t going to make her weep with remorse, but if enough of her constituents write in, hopefully she’ll think twice before opposing measures like this in the future. And if she doesn’t, well, she comes up for reelection soon enough. I hope she does radio ads, so we can think about all the great things she’s done for us as we sit in traffic, wasting gas and contributing to the legendary L.A. smog.
UPDATE: Apparently I’m not the only one upset about the subway vote, according to angelenic.com, a popular downtown L.A. blog. Over 40 readers have weighed in, inveighing against Molina and writing her
letters to protest her vote. Let’s hope she gets the message.
Los Angeles has to expand its public transportation. It is at a point where there is no other viable option. Commuting is a primary characteristic that allows L.A. to function as a city and the expansion of its public transportation system is an imperative step that is seemingly obvious for anyone who has stepped foot in its city limits. What else does Molina suggest? I hope this measure passes soon and is the beginning of many more initiatives to help ease the traffic and pockets of thousands (millions?) of L.A. commuters.
Super informative Nick. Great post and a great letter to Molina.
August 6th, 2008 at 11:40 amif any city needs this, it’s LA. everything is so sprawled out it’s impossible to get around.
August 6th, 2008 at 1:24 pmHigher population densities would also help, presumably by reducing outward sprawl. Density, though, is typically politically unpopular. Citizens of several western cities simply bypass their city councils by putting such measures on the ballots themselves. They frequently pass. There’s still hope, Nick!
August 6th, 2008 at 2:43 pm