BOARD BACKS CAR POOLS; OPENING DIAMOND LANES TO ALL OPPOSED.

Byline: Douglas Haberman Daily News Staff Writer

Calling car-pool lanes key to traffic relief, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Monday to oppose legislation that would open the diamond lanes to all motorists.

``It's a very good tool. The whole point of the lanes is to get people to share instead of having single-occupancy vehicles,'' said Supervisor Don Knabe. The car-pool lane ``is a very integral part of this whole integrated transportation system we're trying to create'' countywide, Knabe said.

Assemblyman Tom McClintock, R-Granada Hills, predicted the supervisors' opposition won't matter in the long run.

``They are thinking like bureaucrats,'' he said. ``We've had 25 years of experience with these diamond lanes. Every scrap of information we have shows they cause congestion.''

The debate comes as Caltrans plans to double the number of car-pool lanes from 305 miles to 680 miles by 2015 in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.

On an amendment by Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, the board unanimously agreed not to oppose Caltrans studying the opening up the diamond lanes to all traffic on Saturdays and Sundays.

McClintock contends the state effectively stopped building freeways 30 years ago, ``while politicians like Don Knabe poured billions of dollars down these transportation rat holes like diamond lanes.''

McClintock said only 7 percent of traffic uses car-pool lanes, but Caltrans senior engineer Dawn Helou said that amount represents 15 percent of people on the freeway.

McClintock said he bases his conclusions on the experience of New Jersey, which in November reopened its car-pool lanes to all traffic on two interstate highways. The car-pool lanes covered only about 30 miles.

``They went from bumper-to-bumper congestion to free flow in all lanes,'' McClintock said.

In an extensive study, New Jersey officials found the diamond lanes did not boost car pooling but instead worsened traffic congestion, were plagued with cheaters who endangered others by darting in and out of the car-pool lanes, and didn't improve air quality as expected.

In the San Fernando Valley, Helou said, car-pool lanes are planned for the Golden State Freeway from:

The Ventura Freeway to the 170, at a cost of $44 million.

The 170 to the 118, for $55 million.

The 118 to the Antelope Valley Freeway, for $14 million.

In addition, a car-pool lane is planned for the southbound San Diego Freeway from the Ventura Freeway all the way to the interchange with the Golden State Freeway near the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. The first leg, costing $16 million, will go down just past Sunset Boulevard; construction will begin early next year, Helou said.