Supervisors Vote to Oppose Diamond Lane
Los Angeles County supervisors, who might have the final voice on the issue, voted 4 to 0 Tuesday to oppose restricting a new eastbound lane on the Ventura Freeway to car pools and buses.
A sharply divided 48-member advisory committee is scheduled to vote today on whether the new lane between Topanga Canyon Boulevard and the Hollywood Freeway should be a so-called diamond lane or should be open to all vehicles.
The state Department of Transportation, Caltrans, has pledged to be bound by the committee’s decision.
But state law requires that any such lane must also be approved by two-thirds of the 11-member Los Angeles County Transportation Commission. And, although the supervisors’ vote Tuesday was only an expression of sentiment, all five supervisors are members of the transportation commission.
Tuesday’s action thus suggests that there will not be enough votes on the commission to approve a diamond lane.
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