LOS ANGELES RAIL WORK SUSPENDED

In a move that some see as a respite and others as a potential death knell, Los Angeles County's cash-strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will temporarily shelve two major metropolitan subway and light rail projects. Construction of the $1.05-billion Eastside subway segment, scheduled to start the fall of 1998, is now on hold. Work will also wind down by summer on the $804-million light rail Pasadena Blue Line, about 11% complete. Preliminary work on the proposed $491-million Mid-City subway extension will end after environmental documents are complete. Suspending the projects reduces construction spending from $229.8 million to $65.7 million, lessening the MTA's $727-million gap in its long-term rail construction budget. Federal Transit Administration officials, who have repeatedly rejected MTA's proposed fiscal recovery plans, gave the suspension a thumbs-up. Others say that the suspension endangers the future of all area rail.