LA - House lifts tunneling ban on Red Line extension

The House voted Wednesday to lift a ban on tunneling through West Los Angeles, clearing one obstacle to extending a subway line from downtown Los Angeles to the beaches of Santa Monica.

The unanimous voice vote came on a bill by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, the same person who pushed through the 1986 federal prohibition in the first place.

Waxman at that time feared construction could cause explosions of naturally occurring methane gas, something that had happened the year before. But new research has convinced him it can be done safely, he said on the House floor.

Read the full article here.

I know we discussed this, but does anyone remember the real reason Waxman got the tunneling ban passed in the first place (and no, I ain't buying it was due to methane gas pockets).
I'd like to see the Red Line completed out to Santa Monica, and then take over the Orange line BRT route into the Valley (I believe there is a somewhat clumbsy transfer between the Red and Orange lines now) - that would be a great spine of a subway system. The Orange line reconfigured as a, well, above ground subway would solve the many traffic conflicts I have read about, and be a lot more convienent and faster I believe.
Q- LAX is eventually supposed to be directly served by the Blue line, correct or incorrect?

The real reason Waxman got the tunneling ban passed was to stop the riff-raff from coming into West Los Angeles more or less.

The transfer from Orange to Red lines is somewhat time consuming. It includes exiting the bus, walking to the corner, crossing a busy blvd, then walking to the subway entrance. It's something like a 5 minute transfer plus the time that the train takes to show up. Not a option for most people on a schedule or who currently drive. It is interesting though that the Orange line has higher ridership than the Gold line. I do believe the Gold line goes through denser neighborhoods but not transit dependent neighborhoods.