Tenth Street, Los Angeles

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Oct. 24, 2009

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority last week set its transit priorities for the coming decades. It angered some members of Congress in the process. Making transportation decisions – and paying for them – has always been a challenge for politicians. KPCC’s Kitty Felde says one such battle is a mighty Street Story.

Kitty Felde: Just about everybody knows Olympic Boulevard ... otherwise known as Tenth Street.

Matt Roth: Well, if you live in LA today you know that Olympic Blvd. is one of the best alternatives to the Santa Monica Freeway, going east to west through the city.

Felde: Matt Roth is a historian with the Automobile Club of Southern California. He says it was around 1920 when downtown LA factory owners lobbied City Hall for a crosstown thoroughfare. They proposed expanding Tenth Street which would route traffic south of the civic center.

Roth: The city engineering office loved the idea because they were looking for ways to accommodate this growing automobile travel.

Felde: The city council allocated half a million dollars - about a quarter of the total cost. Raising the rest of the money would create a political and legal battle that put the Boston Tea Party to shame. We’ll tell that story tomorrow.


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