WARNING SOUNDED ON RAIL OPTION.

Byline: David Bloom Daily News Staff Writer

Neighborhood leaders warned that if the MTA board drops subways this week as an alternative for a San Fernando Valley mass transit system, it would open another round of battles that could hang up any rail project in the Valley for years.

Robert Silver, co-chairman of the Eastern Sector Transportation Coalition, said his group hasn't changed its support for a subway through the East Valley.

``As far as we're concerned, it's still subway or no way,'' Silver said. The East Valley areas that have been promised an underground rail line will fight any attempts to put a rail line at the surface, where it would disrupt neighborhoods and religious communities, Silver said.

San Fernando Valley rail proponents were caught by surprise Thursday when an MTA board committee used a report on federal funding priorities to call for a money-saving major policy shift on the East-West San Fernando Valley Rail Line.

The committee voted 5-1 to drop the subway as an alternative, and seek repeal of SB 211, the 1991 legislation by former Sen. Alan Robbins that requires subway construction between the Hollywood Freeway and Hazeltine Avenue along the chosen route following Burbank and Chandler avenues.

The full board is to hear the matter at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Though he said it was ``premature,'' Assemblyman Robert Hertzberg, D-Sherman Oaks, said he will introduce a ``spot'' bill by Friday that would allow the modification or repeal of SB 211 later this year, but is doing so now only because of Assembly rules.

``I'm not happy about it,'' Hertzberg said. ``I need to talk to the Orthodox (Jewish) community and to others and I need to do some more homework. But if I don't do it now, I won't be able make changes later in the year.''

Hertzberg said, however, that ``absent new data,'' he is inclined to eventually support repeal of the Robbins bill so cheaper rail options could be considered.

County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said his colleagues on the MTA board have ``bungled'' the issue so far. Pushing ahead now, he warned, could kill any kind of rail system in controversy and lawsuits.

``We have an environmental impact report in progress,'' Yaroslavsky said. ``To declare one of the options as no longer being considered invites a lawsuit or will require the agency to suspend the study.''

The impact report, due in late spring, lays out the effects of various rail configurations. The board then must pick a preference before it can request federal funds.

Gerald Silver, co-chairman of the Valley-Wide Transportation Council, said his organization still is pushing a Burbank-Chandler route, but is open to different types of transportation, including subway, light rail, ``cut-and-cover'' underground construction or even dedicated roadways for special electric trolley buses.

``We feel this is a positive step forward and an opportunity to look at some relatively inexpensive and meaningful solutions,'' Gerald Silver said. But a freeway alignment ``is not even on the table.''

Don Schultz, president of the Van Nuys Homeowners Association, said the current disputes are proof that the agency should reconsider building a rail line in the center of the Ventura Freeway.

``It's beginning to look like the only thing that works out here is bike trails,'' Schultz said.

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Map: TRACKING THE SUBWAY: The MTA board votes

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