REVERSIBLE LANES GOOD IDEA? VILLARAIGOSA PROPOSAL TO BE DISCUSSED TODAY.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

Los Angeles' traffic engineers have tried to establish reversible lanes to ease rush-hour jams, only to be met with fierce opposition from residents who fear their streets will become minifreeways.

Now City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa says reversible lanes offer a cheap fix for clogged roads, and he will call today for a citywide study to see where they might make sense.

``We're fully aware of the political realities, but we can't even begin to deal with those until we have some locales to pinpoint,'' said Jim Bickhart, Villaraigosa's transportation deputy. ``We just want to see what the lay of the land is. Then the city can start looking at them in a systematic fashion.''

Villaraigosa is running against Mayor James Hahn in next month's mayoral runoff, and he has included reversible lanes in his transportation platform.

A Hahn aide said the mayor already pushed the city's Department of Transportation to study reversible lanes, and he would welcome the new review.

``This is something the mayor's been working on with DOT for a long time,'' Hahn spokeswoman Sahar Moridani said. ``We think, in some places, reversible lanes make sense.''

Reversible lanes were used decades ago on streets like Olympic Boulevard. Crews used traffic cones during rush hour to direct motorists one way in the morning and the other at night.

Those projects were eliminated over the years, and a reversible lane mow exists only on Fourth Street in downtown.

Reversing lanes during peak hours increases capacity by 50 percent, allowing cars to travel more quickly on otherwise jammed streets, according to city traffic engineers.

Engineers call reversible lanes a quick fix to traffic congestion - but one the community doesn't always want.

``We have not been a very good department on convincing people to do reversible lanes,'' said DOT's assistant general manager, James Okazaki.

Last year, the city acquiesced to community opposition and abandoned reversible-lane projects for the Sepulveda Pass, which would have shaved more than 20 percent off commute times, and Elysian Park Avenue, which would have handled the crush of traffic from Dodger games.

Residents and DOT are now refining a scaled-back plan to put a reversible lane only through the Sepulveda Tunnel, officials said.

Councilman Greig Smith recently abandoned plans for a reversible lane on Balboa Boulevard after determining less-dramatic improvements could bring similar relief without community opposition.

``I applaud Villaraigosa for looking at this broad view citywide because there are places it will work,'' said Smith's chief of staff, Mitchell Englander. ``We've got to do a better job of explaining how it will work.''

If Villaraigosa's motion today is approved, city transportation officials will review current and past work on potential reversible-lane candidates such as Sepulveda, Balboa and Glendale boulevards and Highland Avenue, according to DOT.

``We're not going to do anything except the study, to see if it makes sense to us,'' said Okazaki. ``You have to muster political support and community support if you're going to implement.''

Genevieve Giuliano, a University of Southern California professor and director of the Metrans Transportation Center, said reversible lanes can improve traffic flow on city streets if they're designed safely.

``A reversible lane is not a mini-freeway,'' Giuliano wrote in an e-mailed statement. ``Speed limits don't change, and the added capacity serves a short-term demand.

``Mostly, the effect will be less peak-hour congestion, which means less air pollution.''

But communities remain unconvinced.

Wayne Aller, a member of the Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council board, said residents living near Balboa Avenue don't want to see traffic sped up through their communities.

``I think reversible lanes, in concept, are not bad; I can see places for them. I think the problem comes in basically where they're in residential neighborhoods, where there are a lot of side streets feeding into them,'' said Aller, also president of the Knollwood Property Owners Association.

``It pretty much ignores people who live in the residential areas who have to get on this major highway without stoplights.''

Lisa Mascaro, [phone]

lisa.mascaro(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Eastbound lanes on the Fourth Street bridge are expanded during rush hour to allow more cars to drive in one direction.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer