Study of Sylmar Rail Line Backed : L.A. Urged to Pay $150,000 of Route Proposal’s Cost

A downtown Los Angeles-to-Sylmar route should be added to the four east-west alignments under study for a proposed San Fernando Valley rail line, a City Council panel recommended Wednesday.

The Transportation Committee recommended that the city pay $150,000 to include in the study a route parallel to San Fernando Road. The appropriation requires approval of the full council and Mayor Tom Bradley.

The City Council in September urged the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission to include a north-south route in a study of routes for a proposed Valley rail line. But the commission said that if the city wants such a study, it will have to pay for it.

The county Board of Supervisors already has contributed $50,000 for the $200,000 study with the provision it examines the feasibility of using the railroad tracks along San Fernando Road for a commuter train, in addition to a study on construction of a rail line. Commuter lines operate on existing tracks.

An obstacle to construction of a line along San Fernando Road is that the county Transportation Commission has no authority to spend money to build such a route, according to Richard Stanger, the commission’s director of rail development.

The commission receives most of its money from a half-cent sales tax increase, known as Proposition A, approved by voters in 1980. The ballot measure included a map that designated areas where the money could be spent.

Nevertheless, Councilman Mike Woo said, the San Fernando Road route should be studied. He said Wednesday that he was unaware of the obstacles to funding construction of the line.

‘Worth Studying’

“If they’re saying Proposition A dollars can’t be used to build it, that’s an additional problem that nobody has brought up before,” he said. But, he added, “I think it’s still worth studying. We may need to look at some other ways to pay for it.”

Woo said he favors construction of a subway across the Valley, but he agreed to push for a study of the San Fernando Road route because the council majority last September voted that it should be considered.

The commission, which has final say on where a light rail will be built, is considering studying four east-west alignments, including a light-rail line built in a shallow trench along the railroad right of way that roughly parallels Chandler and Victory boulevards from North Hollywood to Warner Center.

Two other alternatives would also follow the Chandler-Victory route: an extension of the Metro Rail underground all the way from North Hollywood to Warner Center, and a combination of ground-level rail and subway. The fourth option is extension of the subway on elevated tracks along the Ventura Freeway from Universal City to Warner Center.