$7.8 Million Allocated to Computerize Stoplights : Roads: L.A. to solicit bids to install the system at 93 West Valley intersections. It was to have been completed by 1989, but only two of five phases are done.

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday appropriated $7.8 million to help finance the third leg of a much-delayed system to computerize San Fernando Valley stoplights to improve traffic flow.

The council action makes it possible to begin soliciting bids from private contractors to install the system at 93 West Valley intersections.

But the council action did little to mollify state Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee and proponent of the city’s Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control program, called ATSAC.

“The city is years behind in living up to its commitment to the Valley,” Katz said in an interview. “It’s a question of their priorities.”

Katz, who is raising money for a possible mayoral candidacy, has made the allegation that the Valley has not been getting its fair share of City Hall attention and service a key part of his political platform.

Although the Valley ATSAC program was originally scheduled to be completed by 1989, only two of its five phases are now in operation. When finished in 1994, 406 Valley intersections are to be hooked to the centralized signal control system.

The working Valley system now involves all 87 intersections on Ventura Boulevard, which have been on the system since April, 1991, shortly before Caltrans began work on its Ventura Freeway widening project.

The city made it a priority to complete the Ventura Boulevard ATSAC segment in time to accommodate the extra traffic anticipated on the boulevard as motorists sought alternatives to the freeway during construction.

The ATSAC system enables traffic engineers in downtown Los Angeles to monitor traffic at affected intersections through TV cameras and sensors in the roadway and alter traffic signal timing to clear up traffic snarls or use the information to dispatch traffic control officers to the scene.

Tests made last year indicate that the system reduces travel time by about 12% over the older signal system.

Ed Rowe, general manager of the city’s Department of Transportation, said the entire project, which is expected to cost $31.7 million, has been divided into several phases and geographical sections.

The $7.8 million that the City Council allocated will be used to install the system at intersections west of Reseda Boulevard, between Victory and Ventura boulevards, he said. Last week, the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission allocated $10.8 million in sales taxes and federal funds to help cover the costs of installing the system at intersections east of Reseda Boulevard, Rowe said. Another $8 million had been previously granted to the city from various sources, including federal gas taxes, to help pay for the system east of Reseda Boulevard.

Another $5 million or so, which came primarily from state funds, was used to install the system on Ventura Boulevard, he said.

“That means that we have all the money now to do all the program,” Rowe said.

Rowe attributed the delays in completing the program to lapses in federal funding. “It’s not fair that we’ve been the subject of criticism of foot-dragging,” Rowe said, replying to Katz’s comments.

Rowe said the Ford Foundation last week honored the city’s ATSAC system as one of the nation’s top 10 innovative transportation programs. With the honor came a $100,000 grant from the prestigious foundation.

Wednesday’s action committed the city to spending $7.8 million of its transit bond money on the Valley project.

The federal government, Rowe said, will eventually reimburse the city for these out-of-pocket expenditures, but the city cannot legally solicit bids from contractors to do the work unless the money is available to spend. “It’s kind of a Catch-22,” he said.