101 PLANNERS WANT SCALED-BACK FREEWAY PROJECTS.Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. leaders will meet this week with city planners to start setting priorities for dozens of short- and midterm projects they hope will ease congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. on the Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. without reviving the much-despised widening plan. The meetings get under way in light of the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, Association of Governments' new draft transportation plan for 2004, which calls for widening the freeway so the region can reduce vehicle emissions and meet federal air-quality goals. Community leader Gerald Silver said he hopes proposals for more than four dozen interim projects will help avert what he termed ``the SCAG scag - To destroy the data on a disk, either by corrupting the file system or by causing media damage. Compare scrog, roach. iron-hammer approach,'' and give the Valley time to work out an acceptable compromise. ``I believe that enough of these improvements that are targeted, precise and supported by the community - that improve congestion and the hot spots hot spots acute moist dermatitis. - will take an amount of the heat off the 101,'' he said. Councilman Tom La Bonge is leading the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Department of Transportation effort to develop projects that would be completed over the next decade, but said SCAG's plan to add two lanes in each direction through the heart of the Valley also should be considered - though he's opposed to tolls. LaBonge said that if the 101 could be widened by condemning just a few dozen properties - rather than the hundreds estimated in the original proposal - the plan would be worthwhile for the community to consider. ``There never was a full discussion on the 101,'' said LaBonge, who also sits on the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. ``We could go back to the community and say, This is what we lay out there.'' Widespread opposition from homeowners in the Valley and Hollywood led elected officials last spring to kill ambitious 101-widening plans. But SCAG revived the proposal over the summer, saying the six-county region that includes Los Angeles could lose up to $37 billion in federal funds Federal Funds Funds deposited to regional Federal Reserve Banks by commercial banks, including funds in excess of reserve requirements. Notes: These non-interest bearing deposits are lent out at the Fed funds rate to other banks unable to meet overnight reserve if it fails to meet air quality goals in coming years. It proposes building toll lanes from between the Moorpark Freeway (23) and the 170-134 interchange, using a combination of widening and double-decking the 101. SCAG says it's willing to entertain alternative proposals - for a Gold Line light-rail extension down the 101, for example - but did not include them because there is no public funding Public funding is money given from tax revenue or other governmental sources to an individual, organization, or entity. See also
Planners have long said that Ventura Freeway congestion will only worsen as Los Angeles County adds nearly 3 million residents over the next two decades. Planners have said it would take seven additional lanes in each direction to handle the anticipated demand. SCAG officials emphasize they're sensitive to Valley residents' concerns about the Ventura Freeway project. ``I think nobody disagrees we need to improve that corridor,'' said Hasan Said Hasan was Fiji Indian member of the Legislative Council of Fiji nominated into the Council by the Governor in 1937. Ikhrata, director of planning and policy at SCAG. ``We could go forever talking about short term and midterm. You have to do something in that corridor, not just for conformity (but) to improve the mobility for the people.'' City and local officials, however, have high hopes for interim projects. City transportation planners said short-term improvements have shown a 10 percent to 15 percent improvement on city streets, and they believe similar results can be attained on the freeways. The city has formed three Citizens Advisory Committees - one for each segment of the freeway as it goes through Hollywood, the mid-Valley area and West Valley - whose representatives were nominated by homeowners groups, neighborhood councils Neighborhood councils are governmental or non-governmental bodies composed of local people who handle neighborhood problems. They can be found in many cities throughout the world. and chambers of commerce. The panels and city officials will meet for the next two months to set priorities, then a smaller task force of committee members and representatives from city, county and state elected officials will narrow the list. The plan is to use the $1 million remaining from the $4.5 million 101 study to prepare engineering documents as precursors to building the top priorities. ``We really want the community's input and are listening,'' said DOT General Manager Wayne Tanda. ``Maybe the aggregate or the collection of these smaller types of improvements (can amount to) measurable minutes saved.'' Committee member Brad Rosenheim, representing the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, said there's been a willingness to consider the improvements that are being scrutinized on a case-by-case basis. ``I think there are a lot of incremental steps that can be taken that are not necessarily capacity enhancements, but are problem resolvers,'' he said. ``VICA VICA Vocational Industrial Clubs of America VICA Video Conferencing Alliance (UK) VICA Vocational Industrial Chapters of America VICA Vision Counsel of America is very open-minded to it. ... We're going to be looking at them, evaluating them,'' he said. ``They are helpful. They are by no means a cure-all.'' Lisa Mascaro, (818) 713-3761 lisa.mascaro(at)dailynews.com IF YOU GO: Public meetings on short-term and midterm improvements to the Ventura Freeway (101) will take place at the Marvin Braude Marvin Braude (August 11, 1920—December 7, 2005)served as Los Angeles City Councilman for the 11th district from 1965 to 1997. At various times Mr. Braude (pronounced BROW-dee) served as chair of the Finance and Revenue Committee, the Environmental Quality and Waste Constituent Service Center, 6262 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys. The meetings will run from 6 to 8 p.m. today for the area between Cahuenga Boulevard and the San Diego Freeway The San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405, and the part of Interstate 5 south of the El Toro Y[1]) is one of the principal north-south highways in Southern California, and the major beltway of I-5 running through Southern California. (405), and 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 7 for the area between the 405 and Valley Circle Boulevard. CAPTION(S): 2 boxes Box: (1) 101 FREEWAY FIXES SOURCE: 101 Freeway Corridor Study Daily News (2) IF YOU GO (see text) |
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