Panel OKs Study of Light-Rail Routes

The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission on Wednesday approved a $1.6-million contract for an environmental-impact report on five proposed routes for a San Fernando Valley light-rail line.

The 16-month pact with Gruen Associates will provide a factual basis for final selection of a route, commissioners say.

On Feb. 11, the commission voted to study five east-west routes, including a route that includes a North Hollywood leg that has drawn widespread opposition. The controversial route, which has the support of the commission staff, largely follows Chandler and Victory boulevards between North Hollywood and Warner Center.

Other routes to be studied are Victory Boulevard, the Los Angeles River flood-control channel, the Ventura Freeway and the Southern Pacific railroad mainline, which crosses the Valley diagonally from Burbank Airport to Chatsworth.

Depending on the route selected, the light-rail line is expected to link with Metro Rail either at the intersection of Chandler and Lankershim boulevards in North Hollywood or at Universal City.

Commissioners on Wednesday accepted a staff recommendation to review Gruen’s work in four months, when some routes might be dropped in order to cut costs.