County Transit Panel to Oppose Bill Mandating Metro Rail Line

A Los Angeles County panel voted Tuesday to fight legislation that would force transit officials to extend the downtown-to-North Hollywood Metro Rail line partly underground through the east San Fernando Valley instead of building a cheaper surface rail system.

Saying the legislation interferes with local decision-making authority, the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission’s Government Relations and Finance Committee decided to voice opposition to the Metro Rail bill at a hearing today by the Assembly Transportation Committee.

The Metro Rail legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Tarzana), is the latest in a series of efforts to build a consensus on where a Valley rail line should go and what kind of system it should be.

The Robbins bill satisfies some homeowners who had fought all previous rail proposals and is supported by business leaders. But many homeowner group leaders remain opposed.

Burbank Branch Line

Under the bill, the Valley line would utilize the Southern Pacific railroad’s little-used Burbank Branch line, which crosses the Valley from North Hollywood to Warner Center parallel to Chandler and Victory boulevards and Oxnard and Topham streets.

Because Metro Rail is far more costly than ground-level light rail, Robbins and Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude, the plan’s co-sponsor, acknowledge there would be only enough money to extend the line from North Hollywood to the Sepulveda Basin.

They envision passengers traveling between the basin and the West Valley on express buses from a station near Victory and Balboa boulevards.

By keeping the line underground much of the way, the plan has drawn support from some previous foes, including leaders of the North Hollywood Orthodox Jewish community who argue that surface trains would disturb their homes and synagogues along Chandler Boulevard.

Much of the remaining opposition stems from the fact that although the Robbins bill would require that the top of the subway tunnel be at least 25 feet below ground level between Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Woodman Avenue, it would be less restrictive elsewhere.

Between the Hollywood Freeway and Laurel Canyon Boulevard and between Woodman and Hazeltine Avenue, the trains would have to remain below the surface. But there would be no depth requirement and the line could be covered only by a grate.

‘2 Classes of Residents’

Opponents say that since homes are along the line from the Hollywood Freeway to Hazeltine, the bill sets up “two classes of residents.”

The bill’s prospects are uncertain.

The County Transportation Commission, which is building a countywide network of rail lines with the half-cent additional sales tax approved by the county’s voters in 1980, has prevailed in previous fights with Robbins and other Valley legislators over bills dictating the route and technology for a Valley line.

Commission Chairwoman Christine E. Reed said that since a Valley line would be built with local money, “we will continue to resist all efforts from Sacramento to direct routing decisions.”

Commissioner Barna Szabo, who heads the government relations committee, urged the Transportation Commission staff to take a “pretty strong position” against the bill.

In addition to studying the Chandler-Victory route, the commission is considering whether to build a rail line on pillars on the southern shoulder of the Ventura Freeway between Universal City and Warner Center.

Commissioners say they expect to choose a route in March. At the same time, they will decide if it will be a Metro Rail extension or a light-rail system.