The Wilshire Subway: Oh, Say, Can You Sea? By Ken Alpern (Source: Citywatch)

Link: CityWatch - An insider look at City Hall

The Wilshire Subway: Oh, Say, Can You Sea?
By Ken Alpern

Whether the Subway to the Sea will ever reach the Sea, or whether students from UC can travel the future Purple Line to the Sea, or whether we’ll ever be able to see the Sea from wherever the Subway reaches its sea-most terminus is still an unanswered question…you see. I give lots of props to Subway/Purple Line Metro staff like David Mieger and Jody Litvak, who have worked tirelesActive Imagesly on this and other projects for years, so my critique on where the currently-proposed terminus west of the 405 isn’t so much a slam on their work as much as it is a reminder that we’re putting the proverbial cart way too far ahead of the horse…or, perhaps, the railcar ahead of the tracks.

(Please contact David Mieger or Jody Litvak at WestsideExtension@metro.netThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it for all of your comments and/or questions—they’re first-rate at gathering and evaluating input)

The Westside Subway (of which the Wilshire Blvd. segment is called the Purple Line) will be built in Minimal Operating Segments that are functional extensions that are individual “chapters” in the completion of this line. Each segment will likely take years for the funding, design and construction to occur.

The first MOS (MOS-1) is roughly to Fairfax/La Cienega, MOS-2 is from Fairfax/La Cienega to Century City, MOS-3 is from Century City to somewhere just west of the 405 freeway and includes Westwood, MOS-4 is from the 405 freeway to the beach, and MOS-5 is the popular connecting segment between the Red and Purple Lines down Santa Monica and Fairfax.


A project as huge as the Wilshire Subway is just too darn big and expensive to do it all at once—which is probably a good thing, because as this project moves further west the uncertainty regarding station and routing details increase, and resident/political consensus becomes more elusive.

For this very reason, I’ve heard different folks describe which MOS should be MOS-4 or MOS-5, because the need to extend this line to the beach doesn’t at all enjoy as much support and consensus as does the need to connect the Red and Purple Lines…and the question has been frequently asked as to whether the money to bring the Purple Line all the way from the 405 freeway to the beach isn’t better spent on expanding the budget to create a connecting rail line from the San Fernando Valley to the Westside and maybe to LAX.

Nobody really knows much about that “405 Line” between the Valley and the Westside, either. Ask ten folks for ideas and you’ll get ten different ideas—should it be above or below ground, should it be alongside the 405 or bore underground to come up in the Valley at Van Nuys Blvd., should it be light or heavy rail, etc.?

I am entirely baffled as to the entire lack of organized grassroots support for such a “405 rail line” despite the innumerable individuals who’ve raised the idea as one that remains overdue and unresolved. Perhaps when the Expo and Purple Lines become realities instead of science fiction will such a “405 rail line” project be taken more seriously…but it will compete for dollars and planning with a Purple Line that goes all the way to the beach.

At this time, the Purple Line Subway appears to be on its way to meeting several key goals, such as suggesting the best future connections to the future Crenshaw Light Rail Line at La Brea or thereabouts, to Century City and to the Beverly Center and to Westwood.

The Purple Line planning effort does NOT, however, at this time address the traffic crunch on Wilshire Blvd. that starts west of the freeway and makes it a nightmare to traverse one side of the 405 to the other. At this time, for financial, logistic and other purposes the western terminus of MOS-3 (to Westwood/405 freeway) is favored to be at the Westwood/VA Hospital.

Traffic is monstrous well to the west of the hospital, however, and issues such as parking and access to federal property are HUGE and make this a much thornier problem to resolve than most of us realize (memba’ getting the Green Line to LAX and working with those fun-loving feds?). Any station at the VA Hospital will (rightfully) serve primarily the needs of the patients and workers there…but not the needs of the general public.

Unfortunately, a proposed compromise of having the western terminus of MOS-3 at/near the western edge of the VA property at Federal (near Barrington) is not proceeding forward; the hospital continues to be the favored western terminus.

Meanwhile, huge commuter/pedestrian destinations on Barrington and Bundy exist to the west, as does the aforementioned 405 freeway-clustered traffic. Bundy was the original western terminus of MOS-3, but has now been relegated to MOS-4 to Santa Monica and the beach at a time when there are no shortage of individuals wondering if we need this Purple Line to go all the way to the beach.

So…why would Wilshire Blvd. commuters jump on board the Purple Line Subway if they’ve already fought through most of the traffic to get to the 405 freeway?

Might we consider including Wilshire/Bundy as the western terminus of MOS-3, and cancel MOS-4 for now since Santa Monica will get its Expo Line and other priorities of connecting the Valley and the Westside via the “405 rail line” and the Red-Purple Line connection (MOS-5) also exist?

Most importantly, with the understanding that we have no idea of if, how or where the 405 rail line will connect to UCLA and the Purple Line, why are we committing so far in advance to the VA vs. Barrington vs. Bundy?

The Wilshire Subway might not get the political and budgetary blessings to move further west than a Fairfax/La Cienega Blvd. Extension by 2015-18. However, it packs a much greater ridership, planning and economic punch if it can be built in a longer first-phase to Century City by that time.

That still gives us lots of time to talk with the folks at Metro, the VA and with both the political and grassroots entities of West Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley and Santa Monica to figure out what we want west of the 405 freeway.

I look forward to what reasonable folks who really want this line can achieve with long-term visioning while more immediate extensions to Century City and Westwood can be prioritized.

And, on a final note…

…between cancelling classes and raising student tuitions, it might behoove UCLA to finally lead a visioning process of the once and future 405 rail line as well as the Purple Line effort. How and where will its station(s) be, and what kind of Westside and Valley links fit the need of UCLA students, workers and faculties, to say nothing of Valley/Westside commuters in general.

As I see it, the Subway to the Sea needs to be seen as a sea change for how we see comprehensive rail networking and urban planning for the seaside neighborhoods of West LA and Santa Monica.

And as for the UC that should oversee this Subway to the Sea…I grade it as best a “C”.

(Ken Alpern is a Boardmember of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) and is both co-chair of the MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee and past co-chair of the MVCC Planning/Land Use Management Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and also chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at Alpern@MarVista.org.This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.) -cw