Ventura Freeway Project : Diamond Lanes May Crowd Out Shoulders

State highway engineers said Thursday that emergency parking areas on two sections of the Ventura Freeway will be eliminated if a proposed diamond lane for car pools is built between Woodland Hills and North Hollywood.

But the loss of eastbound center-divider lanes and shoulder lanes in areas of Encino and Sherman Oaks would be only temporary and would not cause undue hardship for motorists, engineers predicted.

California Department of Transportation officials outlined the potential lane closures for members of a citizens advisory committee that is evaluating the diamond lane plan for Caltrans. If the committee approves, the state hopes to open the $5-million commuter lane in mid-1988, aiming to relieve early-morning congestion on the freeway.

Caltrans has said that, if the advisory committee rejects the diamond lane concept, a new lane will be built anyway and will be open to all traffic.

Narrowing of Lanes

Richard H. Kermode, a senior Caltrans engineer, told panel members at a naval reserve center in Encino that the diamond lane, which would be the leftmost lane, would be created by using space taken from the center divider, shoulders and existing lanes, which would each be narrowed by one foot.

The eastbound freeway would retain shoulders for emergency parking along most of the 13-mile route, he said. But about 1 miles between Hayvenhurst and Haskell avenues and between Sepulveda and Van Nuys boulevards would have no eastbound shoulder, Kermode said.

Replacement shoulders won’t be built until about 1989, he said.

Caltrans engineer Ron Klusza said the diamond lane could be closed to traffic and used for emergency parking at night if the committee believes it necessary for safety. Klusza said that portions of the Hollywood Freeway lack center divider and shoulder space and that their absence has caused no problems.

Crash Judgment

But other Caltrans officials acknowledged Thursday that a Ventura Freeway crash that resulted last year in an $8.2-million judgment against the state occurred in an area without a shoulder.

That crash occurred in 1981 when a drunk driver struck a car stalled in a traffic lane near Haskell Avenue, injuring the driver, Caltrans lawyer Ira Holroyd said. Donald Fairchild, 28, of Los Angeles was paralyzed.

Holroyd said the decision is being appealed in an attempt to force a Woodland Hills restaurant, which allegedly served drinks to the other driver, to share payment of the judgment.

Roger Stanard, chairman of the diamond lane study committee, said the panel will evaluate the emergency-space problem further before it makes its recommendation on the diamond lane this summer.

The special lanes, restricted to autos carrying at least two passengers, have been marked in the past by large diamonds painted on the pavement.