It was a sweet day yesterday for all those dreaming of a 25-minute commute from Westwood to Downtown, when an LA County Superior Court judge dismissed lawsuits brought by Beverly Hills and its school district seeking to shut down the Purple Line subway extension. The lawsuits claimed that the line's environmental reports were flawed, specifically regarding a tunnel underneath Beverly Hills High School, which is necessary for a station in the heart of Century City. The judge agreed with Metro that BH's suggestion for an alternate station on Santa Monica Boulevard was illogical, and ruled that Metro's choice for the CC station, at Constellation and Avenue of the Stars, was on point.
But this is just of the beginning of a long legal war that BH has the money to fight; they will likely appeal and already have two federal lawsuits that take aim at the US government for providing subway funding. Regardless, yesterday's ruling is not a good sign for BH (and recent NIMBY suits against transit have all failed and haven't really held up work, either).
In a great twist, the BH City Council, which had been dragging its feet over permits for Purple's La Cienega station, finally approved them yesterday, hours before the ruling against them came down. The first phase of the Purple Line extension, to La Cienega, is supposed to open in less than a decade, while the full extension, to the VA hospital in Westwood, won't open for 20 years without a new tax, Measure R extension, or more cash infusions from the feds.
· Court rules in favor of Metro in pair of state lawsuits brought by Beverly Hills over subway extension [The Source]
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