Wrong About Freeway Plan

“2nd Deck Proposed for Ventura Freeway Car Pools,” published May 20 in The Times Valley Edition, states that there is a plan to build elevated car pool lanes on the Ventura Freeway in the San Fernando Valley.

While the facts in the article are correct by themselves, when joined together they draw an incorrect conclusion. Elevated car pool lanes on the Ventura Freeway are not a part of the 30-Year Integrated Transportation Plan recently adopted by the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission (LACTC).

The 30-Year Plan is a working blueprint that is subject to review every two years. In its fullest dimension, the plan calls for a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane on virtually every freeway, but lanes will be reviewed as potential scheduling becomes available. However, nothing in the plan calls for elevated lanes on the Ventura Freeway.

As with any of the LACTC’s transportation projects, community participation is key. Through the public process, the community is always consulted before any major project is approved. In the distant future, should the need to plan an HOV lane on the Ventura Freeway arise, it will be accomplished with community input and acceptance.

NEIL PETERSON, Los Angeles. Peterson is executive director of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission.