Senate Passes Bill Requiring Subway for Proposed Metro Valley Link

The state Senate gave final legislative passage Thursday to a bill requiring a proposed San Fernando Valley extension of Metro Rail to be built underground through residential areas in Van Nuys, North Hollywood, Studio City and Sherman Oaks.

The bill was touted by its author, Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Tarzana), as the only politically palatable way for the proposed Valley line to be constructed. Homeowner groups for years have strongly opposed an above-ground line, saying it would split neighborhoods and create noise, congestion and safety problems.

Robbins’ legislation passed the Senate despite opposition by the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, which argued that the state had no business dictating the design of locally funded transit projects. The commission is building a countywide commuter-rail network primarily with proceeds from a one-half-cent sales tax passed by voters in 1980.

A commission lobbyist also said the bill, if signed by Gov. George Deukmejian, may create legal problems for the agency. He suggested that the commission might therefore shy away from the Valley extension, choosing instead to go forward with proposed South Bay or Los Angeles-to-Pasadena rail projects.

County transit planners are studying two possible east-west train routes through the Valley, one paralleling the Ventura Freeway and the other following the old Southern Pacific Burbank branch line.

The Robbins bill would require that either route be constructed underground as it passes through a densely populated, 3.6-mile stretch bordered by the Hollywood Freeway on the east and Hazeltine Avenue in Van Nuys on the west.

The Senate action was hailed as a major victory by neighborhood activists, business interests and Orthodox Jewish congregations, which have several synagogues and other facilities along the Southern Pacific route in North Hollywood.

Transit officials envision running a rail line from Universal City to Warner Center in Woodland Hills, a distance of about 16 miles. But Robbins said due to the heavy extra cost of subway construction, the route effectively would have to end near the Van Nuys-Reseda border, making it about seven miles shorter.

If transit officials tried to build the line above ground, he said, local opposition would be so fierce that the project could be tied up for years. Robbins also suggested that acceding to residents’ desires for a below-ground train would make them more likely to support a $1-billion bond issue for highway and transit projects proposed for next year’s ballot. Proceeds from those bonds could be used to extend the Valley line from the Van Nuys-Reseda terminus, he said.