Gridlock Looms in City’s Study of Ventura Blvd. : Traffic Knots Seen if High-Rise Construction Continues Unabated

In a gloomy forecast for Ventura Boulevard commuters, the city Transportation Department has concluded that traffic will come to a standstill in Encino if the thoroughfare is built up to the level permitted under existing zoning.

Peak-hour traffic flow at five of six major intersections in Encino is unsatisfactory or worse, a Transportation Department report says.

When six office buildings, comprising 1.2 million square feet, are completed, traffic will increase by an average of 25% at the six intersections, the report said. The extra traffic will cause four of the intersections to fall into the lowest category under a city rating system for traffic flow, the study stated.

The Transportation Department’s report, which represents the first comprehensive study of current and future traffic conditions on Ventura Boulevard, was commissioned by City Councilman Marvin Braude.

29,000 More Car Trips

Citing the “worst-case scenario,” the report said current zoning in the 3 1/2-mile stretch of Ventura between Sepulveda Boulevard and Lindley Avenue would permit another 14.5 million square feet of construction. That density of development would be the equivalent of 36 buildings the size of the new 400,000-square-foot Encino Terrace Center--commonly called the Fujita building--at Ventura and Densmore Avenue.

If the land is developed as office buildings, an additional 29,000 car trips would be generated during the evening rush hour, the report stated. A vehicle arriving at an office building would represent one trip and the same vehicle leaving would be a second trip.

The additional vehicles would create stop-and-go conditions, with a string of cars backed up through several signal changes, the report said.

Braude said Wednesday that he will use the study to lobby for support of his proposed one-year building moratorium on structures taller than three stories along Ventura in Encino, Sherman Oaks and part of Tarzana, where six-story buildings are now permitted. The moratorium proposal, which must get City Council approval, is expected to go before the city Planning Commission later this month.

‘Situation Is Critical’

“I’m not surprised,” Braude said of the Transportation Department’s findings. “It is what I fully expected. The situation is critical. We are facing disaster in the near future. Unless something is done, we can expect traffic on Ventura Boulevard to come to a complete halt.”

Besides limiting the height of buildings on Ventura, Braude’s moratorium, co-sponsored by Councilman Joel Wachs, would restrict the density of development.

Regulations now permit construction of buildings with floor areas three times the lot size. The moratorium would restrict density to 1.5 times the lot size and would require one parking space for each 300 square feet of floor area in an office building. Existing codes require one space per 500 square feet.

The Transportation Department concluded that, if Ventura Boulevard were built to current allowable levels, the only way to avoid an “enormous” jump in traffic would be to have “radical” increases in the number of people using buses and car pools to get to work.

Effect Throughout Valley

But the report stated, “In the Department of Transportation’s judgment, it is unlikely that shifts of this magnitude would occur or could be forced to occur.”

Traffic problems on the boulevard affect residents throughout the San Fernando Valley, the department concluded.

It quoted a study by the Southern California Assn. of Governments, which found that 65% to 70% of Ventura Boulevard workers live in the northern and western sections of the Valley and that the other 30% to 35% live in the eastern Valley or south of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Gerald Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino, which has long sought strict building limitations on Ventura, said the Transportation Department’s report demonstrated that he has “understated the problem.” Silver said he now believes the three-story moratorium will not go far enough.

Moratorium Urged

“I want to see a total stoppage of building,” Silver said. “I really feel we have understated the gravity after seeing this report. We need an absolute, flat-out building moratorium . . . until they take our F-level intersections and make them C-level.”

The city’s transit formula defines six categories of congestion: “A” through “C” indicate acceptable levels of traffic; “D” means unsatisfactory; “E” at-capacity, and “F” overloaded.

The Transportation Department gave an F rating to the intersection of Ventura at Sepulveda Boulevard; an E rating to Ventura at Balboa Boulevard and White Oak Avenue; a D to Ventura at Libbit and Hayvenhurst avenues, and a B (good) to Ventura at Lindley Avenue.

When the six office buildings under construction are occupied, the study said, traffic will deteriorate from a low of 14% at White Oak to a high of 46% at Hayvenhurst. The added traffic will throw three more intersections into the F category--Hayvenhurst, Balboa and White Oak, the report said. Libbit would be rated E and Lindley would fall to D, it said.

Silver said the city should levy a surcharge on developers in congested areas and use the money to improve signal timing and widen streets. Also, he said, builders should be forced to provide free parking in their garages for customers. The city also should ban daytime parking on Ventura Boulevard and widen the street to three lanes in each direction, he said.