DECISION NEARS ON INTERCHANGE PLAN.Byline: Douglas Haberman Daily News Staff Writer Like a car inching forward in rush-hour traffic, a proposal to ease chronic gridlock Gridlock A government, business or institution's inability to function at a normal level due either to complex or conflicting procedures within the administrative framework or to impending change in the business. on the 101-405 freeway interchange moved one step closer to certainty Thursday. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board voted unanimously to send Caltrans a list of nine highway projects - including two at the interchange - to compete for $60 million with other 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, projects. The California Transportation Commission is expected to make the final selection in March. If approved, construction could begin in early 2000, an official said. To give the MTA (1) (Message Transfer Agent or Mail Transfer Agent) The store and forward part of a messaging system. See messaging system. (2) See M Technology Association. 1. (messaging) MTA - Message Transfer Agent. projects an edge, the board agreed to consider providing matching funds Noun 1. matching funds - funds that will be supplied in an amount matching the funds available from other sources cash in hand, finances, funds, monetary resource, pecuniary resource - assets in the form of money for whatever the CTC CTC - Cornell Theory Center ultimately chooses. ``This was the best news for the 405-101 interchange we've had in months,'' said Assemblyman Wally Knox, D-Los Angeles, after the vote. His district includes the interchange, the fourth busiest in California. An aide to Assemblyman Robert Hertzberg Robert Myles Hertzberg was born on November 19, 1954 in Los Angeles, California, was an attorney and businessperson, and served in the California State Assembly from 1996-2002. , D-Van Nuys, also attended the meeting and hailed the vote. ``Other MTA-like organizations in other regions in the state are making deals,'' said Hertzberg aide Paul Hefner. ``We just wanted to make sure MTA is sending the same kind of signal.'' The 101-405 interchange projects and the other seven projects on the MTA list will almost certainly make the final list sent to Caltrans in Sacramento, said Caltrans district director Tony Harris. ``If we do this collectively, I think we can compete very well,'' Harris, a nonvoting member of the MTA board, told his colleagues. In Sacramento, Caltrans technical staff will sift through all the Southern California projects applying for the $60 million and decide which truly deserve funding based on criteria such as how well the improvements will move traffic from one region to another and how cost-effective they are, Drago said. ``If there's a local match involved, does that increase the desirability of a certain project? Yes,'' said Caltrans spokesman Jim Drago in Sacramento. Transportation Commission member David Fleming
David Fleming , a Studio City attorney and prominent 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. civic leader, has promised that the commission will approve the interchange projects. The MTA's nine projects total about $250 million. The 101-405 interchange projects would add a lane on the northbound 405 from Mulholland Drive For the motion picture, see . Mulholland Drive is a very well-known road in Los Angeles, California named after engineer William Mulholland. A portion of it is also called Mulholland Highway. to the Ventura Boulevard off-ramp and a second lane on the connector to the eastbound 101. It would only cost about $13 million. ``They're basically low-cost compared to the rest of them,'' said Bob Cashin, MTA deputy executive officer for transportation development and implementation. ``On a cost-effectiveness basis, you're looking at a project that has a good chance.'' In a series of stories in September 1997, the Daily News highlighted the 101-405 interchange as the epicenter of gridlock in the Valley and offered solutions, including the two projects now vying for state funding. |
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