Mayor is hopeful on subway funds

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Thursday he remained hopeful that construction of the subway-to-the-sea could begin by 2011 now that a federal ban on funding for the project is about to be lifted.

The repeal was included in a $516-billion appropriation that was sent Wednesday to the White House. President Bush is expected to sign the bill, which also includes money for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

At a news conference at Union Station, Villaraigosa said he would now focus on finding ways to pay for the subway’s construction, which is expected to cost at least $5 billion. Villaraigosa did not offer specifics but said he was open to partnering with a private firm to build the project and may seek to overturn a 1998 ballot measure that bans the use of local sales tax money for a subway.

-- Steve Hymon