Some Beverly Hills students staged a walkout today to protest Purple Line Extension tunneling under Beverly Hills High School. The project is being built in three sections and will ultimately extend the subway nine miles from Wilshire/Western to Westwood to serve the region’s second-largest job center and a part of town notorious for its traffic congestion.

Here are some facts about construction:

•Metro consulted with leading experts and specialists in engineering, geology, seismology, tunneling and construction as part of a thorough, five-year environmental review of the Purple Line project. This was followed by a supplemental environmental report that addressed issues specific to the high school. The findings further confirmed our methodology and continued commitment to safety. To that end, Metro is implementing a number of mitigation measures to minimize impacts to the high school during construction.

•Metro is mitigating dust by implementing control measures including covering loads, sweeping and watering as required by and in consultation with South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) regulations.

•Gas monitoring wells will be monitored before, during and after tunneling. Wells and ambient air will be monitored throughout construction. In addition, to using special earth-pressure balanced Tunnel Boring Machines, within the tunnels we will be using:

–Double gaskets (seals) on the tunnel liners.
–Gas detection system with alarms.
–Emergency ventilation.
–Automatic equipment shutoff system.

•Metro will adhere to noise requirements from both the City of L.A. and City of Beverly Hills. We will closely monitor noise levels to ensure the project is abiding by agreed-upon noise restrictions.

•Hauling of excavated soil to and from the site is restricted during peak hours, 7am to 9am and 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. As a result, it is anticipated that most hauling trips of excavated soils will occur in the evening and overnight hours when students are not at school. The truck loading area is over 100 feet from Beverly Hills High School.

•Based on historical records, research and further investigation, no oil wells are presently known to exist along the tunnel alignment. In an abundance of caution, Metro will use Magnetic Sensing Methods to look for any unmapped wells. If any are discovered, Metro will cease tunneling until they are addressed in accordance with State regulations.

•The Health Risk Assessment predicted that the cancer risk due to emissions generated from construction of the project did not exceed the existing SCAQMD cancer risk threshold of 10 in a million.

•Based on a thorough analysis of multiple station locations and alignments, the selected alignment provides the greatest benefits and fewest impacts.  A station on Santa Monica Boulevard is not feasible due to the presence of the Santa Monica fault.

•Since 2015, Metro has been working closely with the City of Beverly Hills on construction mitigation measures specific to work within the City. This partnership has resulted in a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that identifies mitigation measures for the city as a whole and specifically for Beverly Hills High School, including:

–Special noise limits for work near Beverly Hills High School.
–Limits on construction activities during school hours.
–Use of an Independent Compliance Monitor (ICM) to ensure project compliance with the MOA.
–The installation of air filters on portable classrooms at Beverly Hills High School.

Section 2 of the Purple Line Extension project includes 2.59 miles of additional tracks and two new stations at Wilshire/Rodeo and Century City/Constellation. The project received full Federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation in January 2017. Since 2016, Metro has been working on advanced utility relocation without incident, making way for major project construction to start this fall. Section 2 is anticipated for completion in 2025. Please see the Purple Line Extension’s home page for more information on all aspects of the project.