Killing the L.A. Subway Project

* Re “Antonovich Urges U.S. to Kill Subway,” June 29:

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich is right on. Pull the plug! A subway would be great if the fare structure were high enough to pay the operating costs and eventually repay the cost of construction. But such a fare would be so prohibitive that very few people would even consider riding the subway. It is the taxpayer who pays practically the whole fare of every subway user.

Washington, D.C., built a subway costing the taxpayers about $8 billion. The interest alone on that money is several times over the total gross revenue of their whole public transportation system. For a multitude of reasons, buses are the only method that even comes close to being self-supporting.

RAY LAHR

Malibu

* In his commentary “The Subway Sinkhole: Policy Is Lost Amid the Quagmire of Construction” (Opinion, July 2), William Fulton makes the following statement: “The agreement . . . has resulted in the actual construction of a rail system in Los Angeles--something proposed since the ‘20s but never achieved.” Anyone who has lived here for any length of time or has listened to the old-timers lament the passing of the Big Red Cars knows that at one time this area had one of the best light-rail systems of any urban area. What is the purpose of stating the building of a rail system was never achieved?

On the contrary, the system was in place; the great sin against this urban area was the systematic dismantling of that rail system to promote the consumption of automobiles, tires and gasoline.

MIKE MITCHELL

Orange

* The June 25 article questioning the integrity of concrete tunnel walls in the Metro Rail Segment 2 Vermont tunnels provided a distorted view of the safety of the tunnels and may have unduly alarmed the public when there is absolutely no reason for alarm.

The tunnels are safe; they just aren’t finished. There is no danger. When the tunnels are completed the concrete will be at least 10 to 12 inches thick or reinforced as required by the MTA’s engineering management consultants.

While quoting other self-styled “experts,” your article made no mention of the Cording Report, prepared last year by a panel of recognized tunnel experts on the structural integrity of Metro Rail Segment 1. The report concluded that concrete only six inches thick would be “able to support the ground loads and accommodate the anticipated ground motions imposed by earthquakes.”

This was borne out by the Northridge earthquake. Despite severe above-ground damage, the Segment 1 tunnels came through unscathed.

Yes, a five-by-five-foot section of concrete in one tunnel (out of some 26,000 feet of Vermont tunnels) was determined in January of this year to have been poured improperly. Within a week it was repaired. This month, as planned, test drills will be made in and adjacent to the repaired area, to make sure the concrete is up to standard.

This is normal procedure in tunnel construction. It has not and will not compromise the soundness or safety of the tunnels. Work in the tunnels is being closely monitored by the federal government as well as by the MTA and its construction manager.

The MTA will not approve substandard work. It will not accept the tunnels from the contractor until we are satisfied they are up to specifications and are sound. All repairs will be made before the MTA takes control.

FRANKLIN E. WHITE

CEO, MTA

Los Angeles