CALTRANS PRODDED TO FIND FIX FOR CLOGGED ARTERIES.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy and Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writers

Los Angeles political leaders called on Caltrans on Monday to search for ways to end worsening congestion on the 101-405 freeway interchange and to look for solutions to the problem.

Responding to Daily News stories Sunday and Monday, Councilman Richard Alarcon, who heads the council's Transportation Committee, Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski and Democratic Assemblyman Wally Knox, D-Los Angeles, said more could be done to ease congestion at the state's fourth busiest freeway intersection.

``I think it is absolutely unconscionable that the state has acquiesced to this problem and hasn't done anything,'' Alarcon said. ``I think we ought to give it a try.''

They were responding to Daily News stories that outlined the scope of the gridlock on freeways and streets attributable to the 101-405 intersection and the failure of the California Department of Transportation to consider a cure-all solution to congestion.

Knox, who like Miscikowski represents the area of the intersection, said he would send a letter today to the California Transportation Commission urging it to immediately study ways to improve the intersection.

The study should outline costs and solutions, and be completed by June, in time for the improvements to be considered by Caltrans as it draws up funding priorities for the 1998 State Transportation Improvement Program, Knox said.

``I believe we can do a turnaround in several months' time,'' Knox said. ``For those of us in the Valley, this is what we need to focus on. This is a practical thing the Valley should be doing.''

Alarcon and Miscikowski said they will ask the city Department of Transportation to search for possible fixes, including design changes suggested in Monday's article by the original designer of the intersection, retired Caltrans engineer Jess Reynolds.

Miscikowski said she particularly wants a study of Reynolds' proposal to close the Haskell Avenue on- and off-ramps.

``It seems to me rather reasonable'' to examine, Miscikowski said. ``Being a frequent user of that intersection, some of the initial ideas, such as the closure of Haskell (ramps), made a lot of sense.

``To make that intersection change from the northbound San Diego Freeway trying to get on the westbound 101 and then get off quickly, it's really a risky situation and it might be better not having an off-ramp there,'' said Miscikowski, who was elected earlier this year to represent the district.

Community reaction

Residents who live near the interchange have differing points of view about what should be done.

Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association, who has lived half a mile away from the interchange since 1974, said the ``antiquated'' interchange may discourage businesses from locating in the Valley.

``If we're not going to get a Metro Rail in the next 20 years, we need to get Caltrans to solve the traffic problems. Otherwise, we're going to, economically as well as traffic-wise, strangle,'' he said.

Gerald Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino, said some of Reynolds' ideas already have been previously rejected by his group.

``I don't think that residents want to see greater capacity on that freeway. Then, that's going to create greater demand. Then we get bottlenecks everywhere,'' said Silver.

He suggests improving traffic flow on surface streets by extending Magnolia Boulevard and Oxnard Street through the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area.

Caltrans responds

Robert Sassaman, chief deputy director for Caltrans District 7, said Monday that he stands by the ``interim things we're doing,'' such as the closed-circuit TV cameras and widening the 101 westbound from Van Nuys Boulevard to Haskell.

Valley Industry and Commerce Association Vice Chairman Nate Brogin said the interchange's problems should be treated with the same attention and money that has been lavished on the quake-damaged bridges over San Francisco Bay.

``It certainly needs as much priority in our region as seismic retrofit and replacement of important bridges in Northern California,'' Brogin said.

Alarcon said improving the flow of traffic in the interchange was recognized last year as a priority in the city's list of projects seeking state attention, but the project did not make the cut when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board gave the state the county's final list of priority projects.

The proposal for a short-term solution included adding an extra lane to the northbound 405 and creating a new off-ramp for the 405 at Sepulveda Boulevard.

``I'm going to be asking DOT (Department of Transportation) to take a look at the 405-101 interchange to see if we can come up with alternatives to fund projects there,'' Alarcon said.

``I'm not giving up on this,'' he said. ``The Daily News is absolutely correct in targeting this particular freeway interchange.''

Councilman Mike Feuer, who also represents part of the Valley, said mitigation measures for the expanded Sherman Oaks Galleria may provide some money to improve the interchange.

He also said some relief may come from the Los Angeles International Airport Master Plan, which calls for extending a car-pool lane on the 405 Freeway that abruptly ends near the interchange.

Councilman Nate Holden, the former Transportation Committee chairman, said he also would support efforts to solve the problems at the interchange.

State Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, said the Valley needs long-term mass transit answers as well as shorter-term transportation fixes.

``Do we need to fix it, short-term? Absolutely,'' Hertzberg said. ``But the larger issue has to do with the fundamental question of improving transportation in the Valley. We just added a lane to the 101. Is it any faster?''

``We continually put a finger in the dike, but I want to look at how we deal with this problem over the next 20 years, the next 50 years,'' Hertzberg said. ``We need to reroute and move traffic away from the freeways that create gridlock.''