RTD Backs East Valley Metro Rail Extension : Transit: Directors go on the record as supporting a popular subway proposal rather than light rail.

Directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District on Thursday endorsed a widely supported plan to extend the downtown-to-North Hollywood Metro Rail subway across the east San Fernando Valley.

At the suggestion of RTD Director Nick Patsouras, the board without dissent gave its support to a plan unveiled several months ago by state Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Tarzana) and Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude.

The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission is studying Valley route options and also whether the system should be underground in residential areas.

The RTD would operate any line built in the Valley.

RTD spokesman Jim Smart said that while directors normally steer clear of route decisions, “this alignment has drawn so much support that the board decided to get on board.”

The Robbins-Braude Metro Rail proposal was offered as an alternative in May to ground-level light rail, which also is being studied by the commission.

Because Metro Rail is far costlier than light rail, Robbins and Braude envision extending the line initially only from the Metro Rail station at Chandler and Lankershim boulevards in North Hollywood to the Sepulveda Basin.

Under the plan, which has the support of most homeowner and business groups, passengers bound for the West Valley would transfer to buses at a station near Victory and Balboa boulevards in Encino.

The plan was incorporated into a bill Robbins sponsored in the Legislature.

The legislation passed both houses but was vetoed by Gov. George Deukmejian, who said that route decisions should be made locally.