MTA Offers City $75,000 for Tunneling Rights
STUDIO CITY — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board decided Thursday to offer the Los Angeles parks department a chunk of land or about $75,000 in cash for the right to dig subway tunnels under Weddington Park in Studio City.
The MTA had initially offered the city $500 for the tunneling rights, called a subsurface easement, when it started negotiations 18 months ago.
Parks officials rejected that proposal as inadequate, suggesting instead the MTA give the city any surplus land it owns adjacent to the park when the transit agency completes construction of the nearby Universal City subway station.
If the MTA ultimately determines that it has no excess land, then the board authorized a payment equal to the value of a 10,000-square-foot parcel.
The MTA believes the amount would be no more than $75,000. A city parks official said the value was being investigated and could be worth as much as $250,000.
The city Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners will decide whether to accept the MTA’s offer at its next meeting June 12. The MTA said it expects to be ready to dig under the park by June 21.
The tunnels beneath Weddington Park will carry the Metro Rail Red Line on its route between the future Universal City station and another at the intersection of Lankershim and Chandler boulevards in North Hollywood.
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