Transit Officials to Urge 1-Mile Reversible Lane for Sepulveda Boulevard

Los Angeles transportation officials said Saturday they will propose a reversible lane for a mile-long stretch of Sepulveda Boulevard to alleviate traffic problems for commuters during the drive home to the San Fernando Valley from jobs in Los Angeles.

S. Edwin Rowe, general manager of the city Department of Transportation, told about 50 people attending the second Valley Transportation Summit at the Valley Hilton that he will present the plan to the City Council for approval as soon as possible.

The summits, organized by Nikolas Patsaouras, a Southern California Rapid Transit District board member who lives in Tarzana, are aimed at finding short-term relief for the Valley’s traffic woes. Participants include leaders of business, homeowner and civic groups, elected city and state representatives and transportation officials.

At the first meeting in April, participants asked city officials to revive proposals for reversible lanes on Victory, Ventura, Van Nuys and Sepulveda boulevards.

Under the department’s proposal for Sepulveda Boulevard, Rowe said a reversible lane would be added for northbound vehicles between Mountain Gate Road and a point north of the Sepulveda tunnel in peak evening traffic hours, probably between 4 and 7 p.m. The extra lane would not be open to inbound motorists during the morning rush hour.

The cost of the project would be about $100,000, Rowe said. It would be financed through Los Angeles County mass-transit funds or $1 billion the state will make available to local governments as a result of voters’ passage of Proposition 111 on June 5.

Rowe’s proposal is an alternative to a similar plan proposed by Councilman Marvin Braude last month, but deemed ineligible for the county funds by a county Transportation Commission analyst, Rowe said.

Rowe promised to research reversible lanes for other portions of Sepulveda and Victory boulevards in the Van Nuys area by the group’s next meeting. Rowe also will evaluate the feasibility of converting Victory Boulevard to a one-way street from the San Diego Freeway to Van Nuys Boulevard.

At the first summit, the group also proposed that electric buses, powered by overhead wires, replace diesel-powered RTD buses on Ventura Boulevard. RTD General Manager Gary Spivack said Saturday that it would cost about $15 million to electrify buses on Ventura Boulevard between Warner Center and Universal City.