AQMD Carpool Issue: to Sue or Not to Sue

The South Coast Air Quality Management District staff has recommended that its board not file suit to force the state to add a “diamond lane” to the Ventura Freeway widening project, a panel member said Wednesday.

Larry Berg, a longtime proponent of a car-pool and bus lane on the freeway, said he will recommend that his fellow board members reject the staff’s recommendation at a meeting Friday.

Berg said he will propose that the board sue the state Department of Transportation to require a lane for buses and car-pools as a part of the project to widen the freeway from Thousand Oaks to Universal City.

Caltrans once had supported such a lane, but later reversed itself, citing strong opposition to diamond lanes from commuters throughout the San Fernando Valley.

But some board members, Berg included, have said that eliminating the car-pool lane would fly in the face of environmental laws aimed at reducing air pollution. They said the special lane would be environmentally sound because it would encourage commuters to car-pool, thus reducing the number of vehicles on the road.

Berg would not speculate on whether the board would support his motion. But if unsuccessful, Berg said, he will try to enlist the support of legal or environmental groups for a lawsuit.

Berg said James Lents, district executive director, informed him of the staff recommendation by telephone Wednesday.

The staff believes that a diamond lane could be avoided if other smog-mitigation measures are enacted in the Los Angeles Basin, Berg said.

He said the staff also did not want to delay the long-awaited widening project with litigation. Caltrans officials have said substituting a diamond lane for a general-use lane would force a one-year delay in the project. Such a delay also could add at least $30 million to the cost of the project, Caltrans officials said.

Berg said he supported a diamond lane on philosophical as well as environmental grounds. He said it is unfair to require car-pool lanes in other parts of Los Angeles County, such as on the San Bernardino Freeway in the San Gabriel Valley, and not in the San Fernando Valley.

“We all need to sacrifice,” he said.