Diamond Lane Hits Resistance

A proposed diamond lane on the eastbound Ventura Freeway ran into skepticism Wednesday at its first public airing.

San Fernando Valley business leaders have begun to line up behind the 13-mile, $5-million lane, from Topanga Canyon Boulevard to the San Diego Freeway, which would be restricted to use by cars carrying at least two occupants.

But members of Homeowners of Encino were not enthusiastic after David Roper, deputy director for Caltrans’ Los Angeles district, outlined the proposal at their meeting Wednesday night.

Aron Collins, a leader of the group, said he is “unconvinced that it’s the answer to the problem. I have to study it more.” Homeowner Steve Goodman said he believes the lane would raise a “false hope” that it would reduce freeway congestion.

Study Begun Last April

A 68-member committee of business and civic leaders and residents began studying the diamond lane proposal in April. Roper has pledged to be bound by the committee’s recommendation, saying, “If this committee said, ‘Abort,’ we’ll abort. . . . We’re not getting into another Santa Monica Freeway situation.”

Fierce commuter opposition and political pressure caused Caltrans to abandon the initial diamond lane, which operated for five months in 1976 on the Santa Monica Freeway.

Much of the protest was against the loss by solitary drivers of one lane, which Caltrans designated for vehicles carrying more than one person by painting large diamonds on the pavement and posting signs. For the Ventura Freeway, Caltrans is proposing to create a new, eastbound lane by paving part of the strip alongside the center divider and by narrowing the existing 12-foot lanes by one foot.