BUSWAY ROUTE CALLED MISTAKE.

Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer

VALLEY VILLAGE - Members of the Orthodox Jewish community and other residents gathered Wednesday night for a town-hall meeting at Shaarey Zedek Synagogue to oppose the MTA's proposed East-West busway, which would run along Chandler Boulevard by the temple.

Members of the congregation said they were concerned about high-speed buses going every five minutes along the quiet residential neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.

Anne Greenfield, a member of the congregation at Shaarey Zedek, said the biggest concern for the community is safety.

``We have kids 8 and 9 years of age crossing Chandler who will now have to be dealing with the buses,'' Greenfield said.

A number of Jewish Orthodox residents live in the area, where there are two other synagogues and a preschool, she said.

The proposed busway, designed to provide area residents with a faster means of travel across the Valley, would run along the right-of-way owned by the MTA from the Red Line station on Lankershim and Chandler boulevards in North Hollywood to Warner Center in Woodland Hills.

The idea is to link important community centers across the Valley with a trip of about 30 minutes instead of the usual 55-minute bus ride along city streets, said MTA Transportation Planning Manager Kevin Michel.

Michel said he was open to hearing any concerns about the proposed busway.

``Certainly we've had a number of meetings with community groups. . . . We've heard their concerns and try to work with them to see what we can do to mitigate them,'' he said.

Greenfield said the bus line would disturb the quiet community.

Michel said some options that might be considered in the area include a soundwall or replacing windows in the area.

Greenfield said a wall would divide the community.

``We're going to have a Berlin Wall in the middle of the community,'' she said.

Michel said that in response to the Chandler Boulevard community's concerns, other options have been studied, including running the line at another location on Lankershim, where it would ultimately rejoin the right of way on Woodman Avenue.

One of the concerns of running the line on the street would be losing the MTA's exclusive Chandler right-of-way, Michel said.

The proposed cost of the project, $290 million, would include the purchase of the vehicles, constructing two lanes of pavement for the buses on the MTA's right-of-way and constructing the bus stations.

State Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, said he supports the East-West busline but is extremely sensitive about the line running near the Shaarey Zedek congregation.

``If there is any way to (accomplish) the bus rapid transit in a way not invasive to the Orthodox community, I'd want to accomplish that,'' Alarcon said.