CALTRANS MAPS OUT STREET PLANS PROPOSALS AIMED AT COPING WITH MORE TRAFFIC.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer

GLENDALE - To prepare for the workers who would drive to new entertainment offices in Western Glendale, Caltrans wants to divert them from already congested San Fernando Road when they get off the Ventura Freeway.

Caltrans officials discussed two proposals to widen and improve the on- and off-ramps at Fairmont Avenue and Doran Street with 20 to 25 residents and business owners at a public hearing Thursday night.

The proposals being considered would connect those streets to Flower Street near the Grand Center Industrial Center, where new studio space and offices are planned.

Glendale Mayor David Weaver said Friday the project will be a welcome change - especially given Disney's plan to build the Grand Central Creative Campus for Imagineering, its research and development operation, and new media offices.

``Disney already employs a lot of people in that area, so it's not like you're going to dump a whole lot of people out there,'' Weaver said. ``But it's going to handle the people going to Disney and DreamWorks' (animation campus) and take it off the streets.''

Caltrans officials said Thursday's hearing was held to present two alternatives for relieving congestion on San Fernando Road and to take comments from affected residents and business owners.

``No concerns came up last night, but I don't know what the written comments will be like,'' spokeswoman Margie Tiritilli said Friday. ``We still have several weeks to receive those yet.''

Currently, vehicles traveling to the Flower Street area exit the freeway at San Fernando and are taken to Fairmont Avenue. From there, they drive along San Fernando Road to Grandview or Sonora avenues before driving over the railroad tracks to Flower Street.

Caltrans' proposals include widening the westbound on- and off-ramps of the Ventura Freeway at Fairmont Avenue to provide a shoulder, an 18.4-foot-wide inside lane and a 16.1 foot-wide outside lane.

The first idea would have four-lane overpass connect Fairmont to Flower Street to the southwest, over the railroad tracks and the Verdugo Wash. That project would cost approximately $32.3 million.

The second alternative would do the same, plus widen the eastbound on- ramp at Doran Street by up to 17.3 feet, to include an additional lane, shoulder and ramp meter.

It also would include a bridge to replace the railroad crossing at Doran, and calls for a short road connecting Doran Street and the Fairmont extension. That alternative is expected to cost $51.3 million.

Tiritilli said that based on all the internal studies done, Caltrans staffers prefer the first option, which the agency calls Alternative 5. Caltrans expects construction to begin in summer 2002 and be completed by the fall 2003.

The proposed improvements are part of a series of projects being considered to relieve congestion around Hollywood Way and the Ventura Freeway.

Another proposal, adding a westbound on-ramp from Alameda Avenue, will be discussed at a public hearing at 6 p.m. Wednesday at R.L. Stevenson Elementary School, 3333 W. Oak St., Burbank.