Support Is Sought for Rush-Hour Truck Ban : Transportation: Mayor Bradley discusses with a Valley business group a proposal that would ban some vehicles from city streets during peak hours.

Mayor Tom Bradley went to San Fernando Valley business leaders Monday to shore up support for a proposed rush-hour truck ban that was recently targeted for defeat by a coalition of major business groups.

In remarks to more than 100 members of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., Bradley said the proposed ban is not anti-business, and he accused the California Trucking Assn. of being a roadblock to solving traffic problems.

“We asked them to come up with an alternative,” Bradley said in remarks at the Sportsmen’s Lodge. “They don’t want any regulations.”

Besides defending the truck ban, Bradley said he intends to form a task force between business and state, county and local governments to find ways to encourage firms to stay in Southern California. Bradley said he has already broached the idea with Gov. Pete Wilson and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich.

A number of businesses have pulled out of California, citing the high cost of living and what they consider to be excessive government regulation. “It’s reached the point where we’ve got to take another look to see what we can do to preserve or attract business to Los Angeles,” Bradley said.

The truck-ban proposal, which is expected to come before the City Council later this month, would prohibit 70% of three-axle trucks from using city streets from 6 to 9 a.m., and from 4 to 7 p.m. Work on the proposal began three years ago.

Los Angeles County has already banned truck deliveries to county facilities during rush hour, at the request of Antonovich. While there was initial opposition, the program has been a success, saving fuel and increasing productivity, county officials have said.

Bradley warned that if the City Council doesn’t approve his plan, Southern California Air Quality Management District officials may impose even greater restrictions.

“If we don’t do it,” Bradley said of the truck ban, “the AQMD is going to do it for us. And it’s not going to be as flexible or as good as this one.”

Bradley said that under his plan emergency exemptions could be obtained just by asking, with certain perishables, such as wet cement, permanently exempt.

The California Trucking Assn. has in recent weeks turned up the heat on the issue by requesting that the state grant a 75% increase in shipping rates if the truck ban is approved. A coalition of 13 business groups announced in mid-October that it would lobby against the plan.

The Valley business group did not take an official position Monday.

Sol Zide, owner of two Solley’s restaurants, said most of his deliveries come in smaller trucks, so a ban on three-axle vehicles would not be a serious problem. But he worried that the ban could eventually be tightened to include two-axle trucks.