Developing Ventura Boulevard

I attended a hearing recently conducted by the City Planning Commission where the issue of controlled development of Ventura Boulevard was discussed. Not one person, except myself, addressed the problem that caused the formulation of the plan.

It seems to me that to solve the problem of Ventura Boulevard development and traffic, one should improve the transportation on the Ventura Freeway and Ventura Boulevard. I offered a suggestion: remove all parking from Ventura Boulevard and simultaneously build parking structures to accommodate the loss of the parking spaces.

This would increase the capacity of the boulevard by a third. Then introduce trackless trolleys on surface streets, not only on present bus routes, but on many feeder avenues that would bring people to Ventura Boulevard. The entire surface transportation system should be reconfigured in all aspects to accommodate and encourage more efficient movement of people.

The trackless trolley is a well-proven technology that was originally introduced about 50 years ago. It’s probably been improved since then, and is still in use in many countries around the world.

A trackless trolley will not pollute the air. It certainly costs less then light-rail or subway or elevated rail, with their enormously expensive acquisition costs of rights of way, tunneling, overpasses, underpasses and stations. And bonuses of bonuses, our cities already own the rights of way! We don’t have to build a darn thing! The roads are here now, and all we would have to do is install electric lines and hook up the trolleys. True, we would need more capacity from the electric generating stations but that is a technology (problem) that can be solved today. The electric lines could be strung practically anywhere they can put light poles, so there is almost nowhere the trolleys couldn’t go silently, healthfully and very efficiently.

It appears that the whole thrust of light rail, subway and elevated rail is to get commuters into downtown Los Angeles, which is not their final destination. Who will use the light-rail from the Valley? We know that commuters are going in all directions of the basin, so what would motivate a Valleyite to use the light rail? And, if you’re in downtown Los Angeles, where will the new subway take you? Why, from one haven of the homeless to another haven of the homeless, MacArthur Park. Where is the second destination? Hollywood. Those alternatives are much too expensive and will solve no more than 1% of the problem. To paraphrase Winston Churchill: Never will so many have paid so much for so few and so little.

S.J. LAUNER

Tarzana