L.A. Riverbed Could Serve as Car-Pool Roadway, Study Says

The bed of the Los Angeles River could be used in dry weather as a roadway for car-pools between North Hollywood and downtown and by trucks from there to the Los Angeles Harbor, according to a preliminary report prepared for the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission.

The report by independent consultants, to be delivered to the commission on Tuesday, concludes that the proposal is feasible, would cost about $700 million and could be in operation by 1995.

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), who authored the idea, said Thursday that the study shows “it would lessen congestion and improve the air, and could be done quickly.”

The long-awaited preliminary report, a summary of which was obtained by The Times, seems certain to reignite the debate over the future of the river, a freeway-like concrete-lined channel along three-fourths of its 44 miles that is dry most of the time.

Friends of the Los Angeles River, an environmental group, is heading efforts to convert the unpaved section of the river into a greenbelt.

Consultants said that with two lanes--both carrying southbound traffic in the morning and northbound traffic in the evening--the river could carry 14,000 vehicles a day, each required to carry at least two occupants.

For the 18 miles of paved riverbed between downtown and the harbor, the consultants suggest construction of one lane in each direction for trucks, which would pay a toll of about 25 cents per mile.