Officials Break Ground On Metro Subway Extension To Beverly Hills
BEVERLY HILLS (CBSLA.com/AP) — The subway is coming to Beverly Hills, even if it may take almost a decade for the first train to arrive.
Local and federal transit officials were gathered Friday along Wilshire Boulevard near the Los Angeles County Museum Of Art to break ground on a four-mile extension of the Metro Purple Line.
The $2.8 billion effort is aimed at expanding transit options in one of the most congested corridors in the county.
The construction firm handling the project expects an opening in 2023. Work moving underground utility lines already has started.
Officials say by 2035, the Purple Line Extension will ultimately extend nearly nine miles through Mid-Wilshire, Beverly Hills, Century City and Westwood past UCLA.
County Supervisor and Metro board member Zev Yaroslavsky told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO the ground-breaking marks a historic moment for L.A. transportation.
"This is a very important project....this is the first time we're gonna have mass rapid transit to the Westside in 50, 60 years since the Red Car was dismantled," said Yaroslavsky. "The Westside is finally getting back into the rapid transit game."
Most of the funding for the Purple Line extension comes from federal grants or low-interest loans, with much of the rest from Measure R, a voter-approved sales tax, The Associated Press reported.
(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)