2 Freeway Routes : Antonovich Adds Monorail Plan to Mass-Transit Pot

Adding still another plan to the San Fernando Valley’s lengthening list of mass-transit proposals, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich is promoting a monorail or magnetic-levitation train along the Ventura and Hollywood freeways between Westlake Village and downtown Los Angeles.

Antonovich’s proposed rail line would replace both the east-west light-rail system under consideration for the Valley and the planned leg of the Metro Rail subway from Hollywood to North Hollywood, an aide said Friday.

At a series of private meetings, Antonovich’s staff has been promoting the potentially controversial plan to representatives of business groups, and homeowner and civic organizations.

Rosa Kortizija, Antonovich’s deputy, said the supervisor came up with the plan “while looking at whether new technology might provide something better than what is now under consideration.”

Proposal to Be Outlined

But she said she had no details on the types of rail technology the supervisor is proposing. Kortizija said the supervisor will outline his proposal at a news conference Monday.

Antonovich, who was unavailable for comment, is facing a vigorous reelection challenge June 7 from a handful of regional candidates. His district includes most of the Valley, plus Glendale, Calabasas, Agoura Hills and Westlake Village--all areas that would be served by the proposed train.

Kortizija acknowledged that the proposal, if embraced by local transportation agencies, would force a major reshuffling of mass-transit plans.

For one, it would remove the need for the planned stretch of the Metro Rail subway paralleling the Hollywood Freeway from Hollywood to the subway’s northern terminus at Chandler and Lankershim boulevards.

Construction is under way on the first 4.4-mile section of subway from Union Station to Alvarado Street.

The Southern California Rapid Transit District is expected to decide soon whether it will have enough money to reach Universal City in the second construction phase, which could begin as early as next year.

Most transportation experts say they don’t think there will be enough money to extend Metro Rail through the Cahuenga Pass for at least a decade.

Countywide Network

Also, the county Transportation Commission, which is building a countywide network of light-rail lines using money from the extra half-cent sales tax that voters approved in 1980, has proposed five east-west trolley routes connecting the West Valley with Metro Rail either in North Hollywood or Universal City.

In response to vocal opposition to all five routes, the commission halted consideration of a Valley light-rail line in November and invited Valley elected officials to propose a route.

Efforts are under way among Los Angeles City Council members to form a route-selection committee.

County Transportation Commission members have said repeatedly that a map accompanying the 1980 ballot proposition commits them to build rail lines along specific routes.

Kortizija acknowledged that the map does not show a rail line west of Woodland Hills, and “the supervisor’s plan would therefore require a ballot proposition for voters to amend the 1980 law.”

Feasibility Study

She said Antonovich will propose that a feasibility study of his proposal be financed by the commission, using some of the $400 million in light-rail funds now available from the extra sales tax.

Antonovich’s plan has drawn interest, although not necessarily support, from several quarters.

Bob Ballenger, press deputy for Supervisor Edmund D. Edelman, whose district includes much of North Hollywood, said Edelman “hasn’t seen all the details yet, but we are interested in hearing what he has in mind.”

Roger L. Stanard, a Woodland Hills attorney and member of the county Transportation Commission’s Rail Transit Committee, said he did not know enough about the plan to comment, “except I would say that I like the focus on new technology. I agree with the supervisor that we need to look at more than trolley-car technology.”

Gerald A. Silver, an Encino homeowner leader and head of the All Valley Transportation Coalition, criticized the plan as “another from-the-top-down proposal.”

Ventura Freeway Deck

Silver said Antonovich, “instead of telling us what he wants to do, should be asking community leaders what they want and going from there.”

Besides Metro Rail and the light-rail proposals, a transportation-study committee created by the state Legislature has proposed that a deck be added to the Ventura Freeway with either a magnetic-levitation or conventional light-rail line incorporated in the design.

Also, at the behest of state Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys), state officials are studying whether it is possible to hire Amtrak to operate diesel-powered commuter trains on two sets of Southern Pacific tracks that cross the Valley.

One proposed line would operate between Union Station and Simi Valley or Oxnard, with stops at Burbank Airport, Van Nuys and Chatsworth, and the other would operate between Union Station and the Santa Clarita Valley, stopping in Glendale, Burbank and San Fernando.