Local News in Brief : Realtors Board Votes to Support Light Rail

Directors of the 8,600-member San Fernando Valley Board of Realtors have voted to support the campaign to bring light rail to the Valley, according to Tom Carnahan, the group’s president.

He said the organization’s 22-member board of directors also has offered technical and professional assistance to the newly formed Campaign for Valley Rail Transit, an organization of business, homeowner and civic leaders.

“The first mistake many of us made was in accepting traffic problems as the only reality,” Carnahan said. “We were just sitting on our hands and not doing anything about it. The problem has gotten worse and it’s not going to get any better.”

But, he said, light rail is only one answer to the Valley’s traffic congestion problems. Residents must pull together to develop and support a multifaceted transportation plan that includes better maintenance of surface streets, street-widening, improved management of street signals, improved bus service and other programs, Carnahan said.

Carnahan serves on the San Fernando Valley Mobility Action Committee, a group appointed by Mayor Tom Bradley to suggest possible solutions to traffic congestion expected to occur during the widening of the Ventura Freeway.