Robbins May Back Delay of Subway Work

After insisting for months that Metro Rail construction begin in the San Fernando Valley by the state-mandated Sept. 29 deadline, Sen. Alan Robbins on Wednesday backed away, saying he probably will support a one-year delay.

The Van Nuys Democrat said he will support legislation providing for the delay in tunneling if there is “widespread community support” and if the Legislature also approves a 10-year ban on building a light-rail system in North Hollywood and Van Nuys.

Robbins is the author of 1984 legislation that requires the Southern California Rapid Transit District to begin subway work in the Valley within one year of the Sept. 29, 1986, ground breaking in downtown Los Angeles.

Until Wednesday, Robbins had been unwilling to consider any change in the law. And he repeatedly had said he would “be in court Sept. 30 to see that the RTD obeys the law.”

Robbins announced his change of position after a meeting Wednesday with Assemblyman Tom Bane (D-Van Nuys) and leaders of a coalition that has been fighting a proposed East Valley trolley line.

United Effort

Bane and Robbins said they had agreed to work together to get the one-year delay in subway construction and the 10-year ban on light-rail construction approved when the Legislature returns Aug. 17.

They predicted success “as long as there is community support,” said Bane.

Both Bane and Robbins have been under pressure from the East Valley Transit Coalition, a well-organized group fighting to stop the County Transportation Commission from routing the proposed trolley through either North Hollywood or Van Nuys. The coalition has turned out up to 700 protesters at public hearings.

For Robbins, the plan unveiled Wednesday would permit him to meet the coalition’s demand for help while backing away from his increasingly isolated position of insisting on immediate subway construction in the Valley.

The plan promptly drew a chilly reaction from two Los Angeles city councilmen, however. It also might be opposed by the Los Angles County Transportation Commission, which is studying five possible east-west routes for a Valley light-rail line.

Councilman Michael Woo, who represents Studio City, where residents are fighting to prevent the start of construction in two months, called the plan “not a very good compromise.”

He said residents’ concerns about noise and congestion from tunneling work “would still be hanging next year.”

Council Opposition

And Councilman Nate Holden, who was named chairman of the council’s Transportation Committee on Wednesday, said it would be improper to combine the light-rail provision with a change in the law governing Metro Rail construction.

Robbins said the one-year delay would permit transit planners to pin down when the Valley leg will be connected to the rest of the line, adding that the postponement “will not delay the date anyone will be riding the train.”

Robbins’ 1984 law names the RTD, which is building the North Hollywood-to-downtown subway, as the agency responsible for complying. In response, the RTD recently unveiled a plan to tunnel from Universal City north 4,500 feet to the Ventura Freeway.

However, the RTD said it has no money for the Valley project. Construction could begin in September only if the state, the Los Angeles City Council and the County Transportation Commission pay the project’s $74-million cost, RTD officials said.

Also, because of uncertainties over federal funding, RTD officials have been unable to say when Metro Rail will be completed to its northern terminus at Lankershim and Chandler boulevards in North Hollywood.

Financing Uncertain

They also are unable to say with certainty when there will be enough money to extend the subway north from Hollywood to Universal City in the second phase of construction, which is expected to be approved by RTD directors in December.

The first phase, begun 10 months ago, is a 4.4-mile stretch between Union Station downtown and the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Alvarado Street.

The prospect of building an isolated 4,500-foot stretch of tunnel in Studio City has caused a sharp drop in support among elected officials for prompt Valley subway construction.

Mayor Tom Bradley, Councilmen Woo and Zev Yaroslavsky are among those who have endorsed an alternative proposal to place money for the Valley subway leg in a trust fund rather than start construction in two months.

The County Transportation Commission, which had been asked to contribute $18.5 million to the tunneling, instead unanimously endorsed the trust fund idea last week.

Robbins, who for years has predicted that Metro Rail planners would indefinitely postpone bringing the subway to the Valley, has said he will block the trust fund plan in the Legislature.

He said such a plan “would mean that Valley Metro Rail money would be just one vote away from being switched to something else.”

The plan announced by Robbins and Bane on Wednesday would, besides delaying Metro Rail tunneling one year, ban any light-rail construction for a decade in the area bounded by Lankershim and Magnolia boulevards, Hazeltine Avenue and Vanowen Street.

The ban would affect two North Hollywood-to-Woodland Hills routes under study by the County Transportation Commission--one that follows Chandler and Victory boulevards and one that follows Victory.

Three other routes under study are the Southern Pacific railroad’s main line, the Los Angeles River and the Ventura Freeway.

A final route is scheduled to be selected in the fall of 1988.