Council Orders Study of Monorail Project : Transportation: City leaders seek options for alleviating traffic. Proposed system would run from 405 Freeway to Hollywood.

Seeking relief from the deluge of traffic that pours through the city, the Beverly Hills City Council voted Tuesday to explore the feasibility of building a monorail system to serve Westwood, Century City, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood.

As envisioned by its primary advocate, Councilman Allan Alexander, the monorail could carry 60,000 passengers daily along an elevated route that would probably follow Santa Monica Boulevard. It would extend from the San Diego Freeway (405) to Hollywood, and connect with the Los Angeles County Metro Rail at Highland Avenue.

The proposed formal study is the outgrowth of a private study by Alexander and the San Francisco-based architectural firm of Gensler & Associates.

Alexander, who has been active in planning for Metro Rail as a representative of Beverly Hills, said the rail system may be 20 years away from serving much of the Westside.

“I’m not willing to wait that long to find a solution” to traffic problems, he said at Tuesday’s council meeting, where the monorail concept was unveiled.

“I’ve been struggling with these issues in the community so long,” he said. “Here is a technology and a system that could be in place within five years that relieves the traffic in West Los Angeles. I’m absolutely convinced that people are willing to get out of their cars.”

The monorail, which would be similar to one built at Disney World in Florida, would run at 30 m.p.h. along an elevated track built on prefabricated columns of concrete or steel.

Alexander estimated that the monorail would cost $30 million per mile. By comparison, the Metro Rail system, which runs mostly underground, costs more than $200 million per mile.

Although the route has not been fixed, a tentative plan prepared by Gensler & Associates calls for construction of off-ramps from the San Diego Freeway leading to parking lots next to the Veterans Administration Hospital and the Federal Building in Westwood.

Edward Friedrichs, vice president of Gensler & Associates, said the line would not significantly compete with Metro Rail. Its main purposes, he said, would be to intercept traffic coming into the area from the San Diego Freeway and Santa Monica Boulevard, and also to provide mobility for residents and workers without the use of automobiles.

The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, which is overseeing the development of Metro Rail, also has a state mandate to support regional initiatives, Friedrichs said.

The feasibility study would cost an estimated $80,000. Beverly Hills expects to contribute $10,000, obtained from the county transportation commission as part of the city’s share of sales tax revenues approved by county voters for transportation needs. Alexander said UCLA, West Hollywood and various business and civic groups will be asked to pay the remainder.

Alexander said Beverly Hills must take the lead in initiating the study.

“We have a reputation for being opposed to mass transit,” he said. But if the city can reach a consensus with other groups to do the study, “we can do something about traffic on the Westside.”

Responding to concerns by two residents that a monorail would import “undesirables” that could prey upon residents, Mayor Robert Tanenbaum said such issues would be studied and publicly discussed.

By approving the study, however, the council is not approving the project and the money is not coming out of the city’s general fund, he said.

“Let’s keep an open mind,” Tanenbaum said.

Proposed Monorail Route

Map shows a possible route for a monorail proposed by the Beverly Hills City Council on Tuesday. Under the plan set forth by Councilman Allan Alexander, the first phase of the project would establish a line from Westwood to West Hollywood. A second phase would link the monorail with the Metro Red Line in Hollywood.