Yes, the westside wants to be part of the subway system. Eastsiders do too, I think, since a Subway to the Sea would let anyone get from downtown L.A. to the beach in 35 minutes — faster than by car most times of the day. So many angelenos have been showing up at the many rounds of public meetings for the “Westside Extension Transit Corridor Study” to voice their desire for the Subway to the Sea.

The problem’s paying for said subway — which is why a half cent tax hike’s been under serious discussion for some months now. And discussions are heating up! News from the last week or so:

>> L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa came out in support of a half-cent raise in county sales taxes that’d help pay for the subway to the sea.

>> Said tax hike is supported by 73% of LA county residents, according to a new poll by Fairbank, Maslin, Maulin & Associates (FMM&A) on behalf of Metro — IF all funds go directly to transportation. (via Streetsblog LA)

>> Jill Stewart of the LA Weekly’s LA Daily blog’s not part of that 73%. She contends that Villaraigosa should somehow finagle more money out of the federal government instead of raising taxes.

>> Jason Burns of blogging.la wants to raise taxes a full cent, so we can fund more projects instead of derailing each others’ projects in an effort to funnel the limited funds to our own pet projects. “Oh, and one more thing: Stop funding road projects. Just, stop it.”

>> Last week, the Metro board voted to draft an ordinance that would let Metro pursue the half cent tax increase. That ordinance faces a lot of hurdles; it’ll come up for vote by Metro board late this month.

>> Looking to the future, Villaraigosa says a subway extension to the Westside could break ground as early as 2012, a projection Steve Hymon of Bottleneck Blog calls “optimistic.”

>> In contrast, Metro plans on beginning construction in 2016.

Photo by Laura Fisher

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