Transportation Group Orders Study of L.A. River Freeway Plan
LOS ANGELES — Over the protests of environmentalists, the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission on Wednesday authorized a $100,000 study to determine the feasibility of turning 30 or 40 miles of the Los Angeles River into a part-time freeway.
The controversial proposal by Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) would create exclusive express lanes for buses, car pools and trucks along the winding floodway that extends from the San Fernando Valley through downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach. Most of the waterway was paved half a century ago to control flash flooding and carry waste water.
No one is certain if such a project would work or how much it would cost. But according to Katz, chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, the river traffic lanes would relieve as much as 20% of the congestion on the Ventura and Long Beach freeways. Critics say the scheme is not practical, would harm the environment and would be dangerous when storms send floodwaters raging down the concrete channels.
However, the commission’s preliminary study found “no fatal flaws” in the idea.
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