Eastern Part of Trolley Route to Be Discussed Tonight

The first of three public meetings on possible trolley routes through the San Fernando Valley will be held tonight in North Hollywood.

Officials with the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission said the 7 p.m. meeting at Reed Junior High School, 4525 Irvine Ave., will feature maps showing the eastern stretch of the proposed light-rail line.

The Valley light-rail project, part of a planned countywide rail network that includes the troubled Metro Rail subway, is intended to run about 14.3 miles from North Hollywood to Canoga Park. Most or all of the trolley line would occupy Southern Pacific railroad right of way across the southern San Fernando Valley, although final route decisions have not been made.

County voters in 1980 authorized a half-cent sales tax increase to be used for transportation improvements, including a 150-mile rail network.

The 18.6-mile Metro Rail line from downtown to North Hollywood is to be the backbone of the system. But the $3.3-billion project, scheduled for ground breaking this year, was dealt a serious blow Saturday when President Reagan said he will oppose the $2 billion in federal funds needed to build it.

Transportation commission officials have acknowledged that a Valley system can be viable only if there is a way to move commuters from North Hollywood to downtown. They have said that other alternatives would be explored if Metro Rail collapses.

Erica Goebel, a spokeswoman for the commission, said the three meetings will be “more of a walk-through exhibit than a lecture on the rail project.” She said the meetings are not designed to elicit testimony but “to give people the background they need specific to their neighborhoods.”

A public hearing on the rail line is scheduled for March 12.

The second meeting, on Feb. 20, will focus on route and design alternatives in the segment between Hazeltine and Winnetka avenues. That meeting will be held at Birmingham High School, 17000 Haynes St., Van Nuys.

A third meeting, set for Feb. 26 at Columbus Junior High School, 22250 Elkwood St., Canoga Park, will focus on the western segment from Winnetka to Warner Center, and north along Canoga Avenue almost to Sherman Way.

All three meetings will begin at 7 p.m.