Pasadena Loses Out in L.A. City Panel’s Rail Line Proposal

The three-member Los Angeles City Council Transportation Committee last week passed over a Pasadena light-rail line in favor of a San Fernando Valley line.

The three council members, each of whom had previously declared their support for extending the downtown Metro Rail subway 5.6 miles west from North Hollywood, voted to recommend that the full council adopt the same position this week.

Besides the downtown-to-Pasadena route, a northward extension of the Century Freeway light-rail line from El Segundo to Marina del Rey also was considered.

Los Angeles Councilman Nate Holden, the committee chairman, predicted the full council would “easily pass” the San Fernando Valley endorsement and send it on to the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, which has the final say.

The commission, which is building two rail lines and co-financing the first segment of the downtown-to-North Hollywood Metro Rail subway, is scheduled to decide March 28 which of the three rival projects to build next.

Competition for the next project has intensified in recent weeks with the realization that the commission, which is building the railway with the extra half-cent sales tax that voters approved in 1980, probably will have only enough money to build one more line in this century.

The commission has estimated that the San Fernando Valley project would cost $1.1 billion, considerably more than the estimated $925 million for the downtown-to-Pasadena line and $329 million for the El Segundo-to-Marina del Rey line.

In predicting that the San Fernando Valley line would win the council’s endorsement, Holden noted that eight of the 15 council members have districts that extend into the valley and all support the Metro Rail extension. Joining him in the Transportation Committee vote Wednesday were San Fernando Valley Councilmen Michael Woo and Hal Bernson.

The only declared supporters of the Pasadena line on the council are Gloria Molina and Richard Alatorre, who together represent Highland Park, through which the line would pass.

Thus far, only Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who represents the Westchester area through which the proposed Century Freeway line extension would pass, and Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, who represents the Harbor area, have supported the Century Freeway extension.

The council officially has no say in determining which route gets built, but its vote is expected to carry some weight with the commission, because the city is paying a share of the $4-billion cost of the downtown-to-North Hollywood segment of Metro Rail.