Coordination Called For : Burbank Asks Light-Rail Summit of Area Leaders

Burbank city officials said Tuesday they want to coordinate a summit with area political leaders to determine the future of light rail in the San Fernando Valley.

Larry Foutz, the city’s transportation planning manager, said he plans to schedule a meeting with City Council members from Burbank and Los Angeles, state Sens. Alan Robbins and Ed Davis and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, which is planning a network of light-rail lines.

At a special session of the Burbank City Council, Foutz said the meeting would help Burbank and other leaders determine the future of a Valley line, which might become one of three light-rail lines citywide.

East-West Line

Foutz said attention should be focused on a proposed east-west light-rail line that would extend from Warner’s Center to North Hollywood--where it would connect with Metro Rail.

Burbank officials are interested in connecting the city to that line via a 6-mile line stretching from North Hollywood into Burbank, he said. The extension would serve employees of the city’s Media District, containing several major movie and television studios. The area is one of the largest employment sites in the Valley.

“A Burbank extension would be very beneficial for those employees and for the area,” Foutz told the council. He said the line could have two stops in the Media District and lead into downtown Burbank.

Many Riders Projected

The Southern California Assn. of Governments in 1986 said that an east-west Valley line should extend into Burbank and that it would attract many riders, especially in the Media District.

Burbank last September hired the engineering consulting firm of DKS & Associates to study the feasibility of a Burbank extension. One of the most logical extension routes connecting the Media District to Universal City would operate south of the Los Angeles River on Universal City property. That would require the city to negotiate with entertainment conglomerate MCA, the owner of Universal City.

The county Transportation Commission is committed to selecting one of three light-rail proposals by January, 1989: the Valley line; a Pasadena line from Union Station to Pasadena, or a line that would connect Marina Del Rey and South Bay communities to Los Angeles International Airport.