Interest, Skepticism Greet River Traffic Proposal

Los Angeles County transportation officials reacted with interest and skepticism Wednesday to a study that concludes the bed of the Los Angeles River could be used to carry car-pool and truck traffic.

At the first public airing of the study, officials seemed to agree that use of the riverbed could bring much-needed congestion relief on dry days, but wondered if the plan is compatible with a year-old environmentalist proposal to convert the river to a park.

And some members of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission wondered if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which jointly administers the river with the county, would approve.

The study found the riverbed could be used for car pools between North Hollywood and downtown and by trucks from there to the Long Beach Harbor.

“I think there’s a good chance all of it could work,” said Neil Peterson, the commission’s executive director, adding that the commission does not “know yet whether the corps will approve this or not, and we don’t know if this will work with the park proposal.”

Army Corps of Engineers officials could not be reached for comment late Wednesday. They have said they could not react without seeing a specific proposal.

The report was reviewed Wednesday by the commission’s Planning and Mobility Committee. The full commission is to consider it next Wednesday.

Prepared by outside consultants, the report concluded the riverbeds could be converted for about $700 million and be opened in 1995.

The consultants suggest paving two lanes for car pools only from North Hollywood to downtown, a distance of 17 miles. The route actually begins in the Tujunga Wash, where it intersects the Ventura Freeway. It joins the riverbed about one mile to the southeast.

Both lanes would be open to southbound car pools in the morning and northbound car pools in the evening. The lanes, which would cost $346 million to build, would carry 16,000 vehicles a day, each with at least two occupants and traveling 50 to 70 m.p.h.

The Golden State Freeway, which parallels the river from Griffith Park to downtown, carries about 200,000 vehicles daily.

The river bottom is unpaved along an eight-mile stretch from the park south to the Pasadena Freeway and could not be used, consultants found. Instead, two lanes could be paved along the top of the riverbanks, allowing use of the heavily forested unpaved sections as a park.

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley has suggested making the river a 50-mile-long park.

Wendy Harmon, a Bradley deputy, expressed skepticism about the river road proposal Wednesday, saying, “The park plan involves a lot more than the unpaved areas. We will have to read the report before we can comment further.”

The 24 miles of riverbed between downtown and the harbor would have one lane in each direction for trucks, which would pay a toll of about 25 cents per mile.

That portion would cost $365 million and draw an estimated 14,000 trucks a day.