Panel OKs Study for Monorail : Transit: The completion of the report clears the way for a decision soon on two controversial rail routes in the Valley.

The selection of a rail transit line for the San Fernando Valley took a significant step forward Wednesday as a committee of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission unanimously approved an environmental study for a monorail over the Ventura Freeway.

The completion of the study means commissioners may soon decide between two controversial rail routes in the Valley.

The environmental study says the proposed $2.6-billion, 16.2-mile monorail from Universal City to Warner Center would have several negative, unavoidable side effects. But it concludes that the adverse effects are not so serious as to prevent the project from being viable.

Still, residents along the freeway who oppose the monorail proposal have said the study confirms their concerns that the project will be a visual blight and generate traffic congestion around the stops.

The concerns of residents were echoed Wednesday by several elected officials who represent all or portions of the proposed freeway route, including City Councilman Marvin Braude, state Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles) and Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Los Angeles). The lawmakers did not criticize the study, but said the monorail was a misguided proposal.

“It is absurd to consider placing a mass transportation system down the middle of the most congested existing corridor in the Valley,” Friedman said in a statement read by a spokeswoman. “It would cause a host of potential safety problems and prove a great burden on nearby residents.”

An environmental study has already been approved for the monorail’s rival project--a $3-billion, 14-mile extension of the Metro Rail Red Line that would follow Southern Pacific’s little-used right of way from North Hollywood to Warner Center.

The Red Line extension, called the Burbank-Chandler line because it would run parallel to Burbank and Chandler boulevards, would be built as a subway in most residential areas and above ground in commercial areas.

Members of the Planning and Mobility Improvement Committee voted Wednesday to certify the environmental study, meaning they believe it addresses all the environmental issues associated with the project.

The committee also recommended that the entire County Transportation Commission do the same when it discusses the study Aug. 26. The committee further instructed county transportation staff to evaluate the Ventura Freeway and Burbank-Chandler lines and make a recommendation within 60 days on which should be built.

The County Transportation Commission is scheduled to review the staff recommendation and to select one of the alternatives by the end of the year. Construction could be completed after 2018.

The environmental report said construction of the monorail would have four significant and unavoidable adverse effects:

* The project would displace 11 residences and 98 businesses, employing about 1,200 people.

* Construction on the median would disrupt traffic on the Ventura Freeway, one of the nation’s busiest. Traffic on the freeway has already been slowed for the past two years by a freeway widening project that is scheduled for completion in September.

* Nearly half of the monorail’s elevated track would run along residential neighborhoods, and riders would be able to peer into residences and yards from the trains.

* Nearly 19 acres of parkland in the Sepulveda Basin would be turned into parking lots and stations for the monorail.

Several speakers who oppose the monorail nonetheless urged county transportation officials to validate the environmental study so they can concentrate on construction of the Burbank-Chandler line.

“We’ve waited too long. We have studied too long. The time for action is now,” said Braude, who represents a portion of the freeway corridor.

Jacki Bacharach, chairwoman of the committee, said she agreed with the comments of residents along the freeway and said she would like to conclude the study of the monorail option.

The monorail alternative was studied at the request of Supervisor Mike Antonovich, chairman of the County Transportation Commission. He did not attend the meeting but in the past has said he supports a monorail because it would cost less and would take less time to build than the Burbank-Chandler rail line.