A Green Light for Rail Line : Mass transit: The county gives preliminary OK to funding for a light-rail service along the Exposition Boulevard right of way.

Plans for a light-rail line serving the Westside have cleared a significant hurdle by receiving preliminary approval for funding from the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission.

Although a functioning transit line is still years away, the commission, in issuing its 30-year transit plan for the region late last month, indicated that it intended to provide money to build a light-rail line--or an alternative mode of public transit--to run along the Exposition Boulevard railroad right of way between Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles.

“We have put a place mark in our plan to provide the financial capacity to build this line,” said Transportation Commission spokesman Michael Bustamante this week.

The right of way runs from Santa Monica to Exposition Park near the Los Angeles Coliseum and continues east to a linkup south of downtown Los Angeles with another light rail line. The Exposition Boulevard line was included in 175 miles of right of way that the Transportation Commission bought from Southern Pacific last year for $450 million.

The funding plan would require the cities served to raise 20% of the cost.

Though inclusion of the Exposition right of way in the Transportation Commission’s 30-year plan does not mean a light-rail system is a sure thing, it is encouraging Santa Monica officials, who have fought for a light-rail link with downtown Los Angeles via the Exposition line.

“It’s a step in the right direction,’ said Santa Monica Mayor Judy Abdo.

For opponents, many of them from Cheviot Hills and Rancho Park, the possibility of a light-rail system in their neighborhoods is a setback.

Several Los Angeles homeowner groups, backed by Los Angeles Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, fought the purchase of the right of way for more than two years. They continue to argue that a light-rail plan will ruin their neighborhoods with traffic and noise, and will not draw anywhere near the high ridership claimed by a Santa Monica-funded study.

Yaroslavsky said it was a “preposterous notion” to envision commuters flocking through already-congested single-family residential areas to leave their cars in giant park-and-ride lots near the proposed rail line.

The councilman said he favors moving the line entirely to Santa Monica Boulevard, a right of way that will become available if the Los Angeles City Council approves a proposed lawsuit settlement with Southern Pacific. Yaroslavsky and Los Angeles County Supervisor Ed Edelman announced the proposed settlement this week.

If the LACTC insists on developing the Exposition line, Yaroslavsky said, he favors rerouting the line via Venice and Sepulveda boulevards to avoid the Rancho Park-Cheviot Hills area.

City Councilman Nate Holden, whose district lies to southeast of Yaroslavsky’s and who lives just a block from the right of way, said this week that he favors the light-rail plan, provided it is rerouted around Cheviot Hills and Rancho Park.

“Something is better than nothing,” said Holden, who chairs the City Council’s transportation committee and is a former county transportation commissioner.

Although the long-range plan was drawn up at the behest of the members of the Transportation Commission, the full commission must approve the plan in September or October, according to commission spokesman Michael Bustamante.

Abdo cautioned that Santa Monica is not treating the inclusion of the rail line in the 30-year plan as a guarantee that it will be built. She said Santa Monica will redouble its efforts not only to keep the project on the list but to gain a higher priority for it.

“It’s not like it’s written in stone,” Abdo said.

Three hearings are planned on the Westside next week to solicit public comment on the plan. Bustamante emphasized that a light-rail line is only one option under study. Alternatives include deployment of a fleet of electric buses or the creation of a van- and bus-pool lane.

Sara Berman, an active opponent of the light-rail line and president of the West of Westwood Homeowners Assn., said she was concerned that none of the three hearings is being held in the Rancho Park-Cheviot Hills area. The closest one is at Hamilton High School.

Berman said the inclusion of the Exposition right of way in the long-range plan was premature because of insufficient study.

“It makes us question the good faith of the study in process,” she said.

Despite the opposition, Bustamante said the Transportation Commission is moving forward aggressively on the region’s transportation problems because of a mandate from voters. Several transit funding propositions have passed decisively in recent elections, in stark contrast to myriad other proposed bond issues that failed.

“The public has told us, ‘We want something and we want something now,’ ” Bustamante said.

Transit Hearings Scheduled

The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission has scheduled three community meetings next week for a preliminary discussion of transit options--including light rail--for the Exposition Boulevard right of way. The meetings, all of which begin at 7 p.m., are planned for three separate locations. For more information call Carol Inge, (213) 244-6898, or Christine Robert, (213) 244-6891, at the Transportation Commission.

* Tuesday, Sept. 10: Los Angeles Department of Water and Power auditorium, 4030 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles.

* Wednesday, Sept. 11: Hamilton High School, multipurpose room, 2955 South Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles.

* Thursday, Sept. 12: Santa Monica Library auditorium, 1343 6th St., Santa Monica.