MTA FOCUS ON 405-101 COUNTY PROJECTS: $893 MILLION.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board has earmarked $893 million over the next six years for 218 transportation projects in Los Angeles County including improvements at the 101-405 freeway interchange in the San Fernando Valley, officials said Friday.

As part of a $38.9 million project to close the gap in an auxiliary lane on the northbound San Diego Freeway between Greeleaf Street and the Ventura Freeway in Sherman Oaks, the MTA board on Thursday approved $2.7 million for:

--Construction of an overcrossing for the Greenleaf Street on-ramp to the northbound 405,

--Replacement of the Ventura Boulevard undercrossing,

--Closure of the Ventura Boulevard on-ramp and

--Modification of the Greenleaf Street on- and off-ramps.

Transportation planners and public officials have focused on problems at the 101-405 interchange, one of the state's busiest, in recent years after the Daily News reported on its significance as ground zero for gridlock in the Valley.

The 13-member MTA board approved the funding as part of a process known as a ``call for projects'' which judged projects on a competitive basis to find ones that could produce significant transportation improvements, officials said.

``This is the largest `call for projects' we've ever had,'' said Brad McAllester, MTA Director of Regional Planning. ``Over the next six years we'll see a wide range of projects, including carpool lanes, arterial improvements, rideshare programs, as well as bike and pedestrian programs.''

The call for projects was created by the MTA to allocate discretionary transportation funds to projects that local jurisdictions, transit operators, the MTA and other public agencies propose to build.

The MTA also approved $1.6 million as part of a $2.5 million project to widen San Fernando Mission Boulevard between Sepulveda Boulevard and the Golden State (5) Freeway in Mission Hills to provide one additional lane in each direction.

Also, $33.8 million was recommended for design and right-of-way acquisition as part of a $241.6 million project to build carpools lanes on both directions of the Golden State (5) Freeway from the Hollywood (170) Freeway to the Ventura (134) Freeway to relieve congestion.

The MTA also approved $5.2 million for a bikeway along the just-approved San Fernando Valley east-west rapid busway. The 11-mile route for bicycle riders will stretch from Warner Center in Woodland Hills to the Hollywood (170) Freeway along the landscaped busway, a $285 million project approved Thursday by the MTA.

One of the biggest projects involves $27 million for a carpool lane on the southbound San Diego (405) Freeway between Waterford Street and the Santa Monica (10) Freeway on the Westside.

``We are completing major portions of our (carpool) system and major work on I-5 and I-405 to improve the carpool lanes,'' McAllester said. ``These are some of the last improvements to our countywide (carpool) system.''

Among the bikeway improvements, the board approved $1.4 million for the construction of two miles of bike paths and lanes connecting the Los Angeles River Bike Path with the new Riverside Drive Bridge.

More than $900,000 was approved for the design of the third phase of the San Fernando Road bike path than will run 4.75 miles from Branford Street to Cohasset Street in Sun Valley.

``This is basically a bike path from the north San Fernando Valley to Burbank,'' MTA bikeway project manager Lynne Goldsmith said.

Also, the bikeway funding includes $216,000 to pay for the creation of a website that will include all the bicycle routes in the Los Angeles County region. The website will allow riders to identify the quickest and safest routes available. The web address is not available yet.

For $565,000, 2,600 trees will be planted along 38 major transportation routes throughout the city of Los Angeles.

A total of 372 transportation requests totalling $1.7 billion were submitted to the MTA for the 2001 call for projects. More than 85 percent of the funds will come from state and federal sources.

The program of projects will be sent to the Southern California Association of Governments and the California Transportation Commission for evaluation.