EDITORIAL SQUANDERED RESOURCES A GOOD IDEA FOR VENTURA BOULEVARD TRAFFIC GOES BAD.A long time ago, Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. City Hall had a good idea (it does happen from time to time). The idea was to ask developers along Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. to contribute money to a fund that would offset the added traffic from those developments by building new parking lots, widening roads, and improving traffic signals at problem intersections along the busy 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. artery. It was a good idea that went bad from disuse dis·use n. The state of not being used or of being no longer in use. disuse Noun the state of being neglected or no longer used; neglect Noun 1. . As for the $5 million collected under by the city since 1988 as part of this fund, exactly none of it has ever been used to make traffic flow better down this heavily congested con·gest·ed adj. Affected with or characterized by congestion. congested ENT adjective Referring to a boggy blood-filled tissue. See Nasal congestion. corridor. None. In fact, of the $1.5 million of the fund spent so far, most of it went to pay for administration costs. Only a fraction -- $140,000 -- was spent on anything substantial. That is, assuming one considers trees and some street furniture as substantial. Admittedly, the rules for using the funds are strict. But that doesn't absolve ab·solve tr.v. ab·solved, ab·solv·ing, ab·solves 1. To pronounce clear of guilt or blame. 2. To relieve of a requirement or obligation. 3. a. To grant a remission of sin to. the city's leaders of their negligence in extracting money for a good cause -- then never using it for its stated purposes. Ultimately, this was a case of false advertising. And the developers who paid those fees -- with the understanding that the money would be used to improve traffic -- have as much right to be angry with the city as do all the Ventura Boulevard-adjacent residents, motorists and businesses. Only now, under some scrutiny and being prodded by elected officials, will the city transportation department start working on coming up with ways to ease rules to spend that much-needed money. The city wasted these resources for years, when it could have used them to improve traffic long ago. It's a shame that City Hall couldn't have spent the money 20 years ago, when it would have bought so much more than it can now. As it is, traffic is so jammed in sections of the road that the money will come too late to do much good. But that doesn't mean the city shouldn't try. City Hall should put a moratorium on new Ventura Boulevard development until it comes up with a plan to collect -- and use -- traffic mitigation fees in a timely manner. It's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a for City Hall to turn Ventura Boulevard traffic fixes from just a good idea into some good transportation policy. |
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