Consultant Rejects Glendale as Route for Light-Rail Line

Realigning a proposed light-rail route between Burbank and downtown Los Angeles to serve downtown Glendale would increase the cost of the line, create adverse environmental impacts and reduce train speed, according to a county report released Wednesday.

The environmental report prepared by a consultant for the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission urged the commission to reject two alternative routes that would realign the proposed 11.9-mile line to go through the Glendale central business district.

As proposed, the $445-million light-rail line would begin at Burbank Airport and travel along Southern Pacific railroad tracks parallel to San Fernando Road. It would meet up with the Pasadena-to-Los Angeles line near the interchange of the Golden State Freeway and the Pasadena Freeway in the vicinity of Dodger Stadium.

The line would carry an average of 33,000 passengers a day and make 10 stops along the route, including the Burbank City Centre, the Burbank Media District and the Glendale Grand Central Industrial Business Park, according to the environmental report by Gruen Associates of Los Angeles.

One of the alternative routes would have the light-rail route divert from the tracks and travel east on Glenoaks Boulevard in Glendale and then south on Brand Boulevard, meeting up with the Southern Pacific tracks again in Atwater Village. The second alternative would have the route divert from the tracks and travel east on West Broadway and then south on Brand Boulevard.

Peter De Haan, a county project manager, said representatives of the Southern California Assn. of Governments and the Southern California Rapid Transit District were among those individuals--including several Glendale residents--who suggested that the line be redrawn to serve the downtown Glendale business district.

Although the alternative routes into downtown Glendale would attract more riders, De Haan said county transportation staff members believe the routes would also increase traffic congestion and reducing parking spaces on downtown Glendale streets.

In addition to the traffic effects, the environmental report said construction of either of the alternative routes would create a visual blight and require eliminating landscaping along downtown Glendale streets.

De Haan said the alternatives would add between $35 million and $70 million to the cost of the project, depending on the alternative route chosen.

Under the proposed routes, a passenger could ride from Burbank Airport to Union Station in about 23 minutes, De Haan said. With the diversion into downtown Glendale, the same trip would take 26 to 39 minutes, depending on the alternative route, he said.

Steve Adams, an assistant to the Glendale City Manager, said the city agrees with the report’s recommendation against running the light rail into the downtown business district.

“Considering the problems it would cause and the technology it would use, the city supports the recommendations,” he said.

When the line is built, Adams said, the city plans to use a shuttle bus to transport passengers to and from the light-rail stations and the downtown Glendale business district.

Another significant “unavoidable adverse impact” of the light-rail line, according to the environmental report, would be the need to move or demolish the old Los Angeles city jail building in Lincoln Heights to make way for the light-rail line.

The report says the County Transportation Commission can either raze the building and relocate the three nonprofit organizations using the facility or consider two additional route modifications that would have the line skirt in front of the jail.

The line is one of eight mass transit projects competing for funding priority under Los Angeles County’s 30-year Integrated Transportation Plan. If the Transportation Commission gives the line priority over other projects, it could be constructed before the end of the century.

The commission is scheduled to approve the adequacy of the environmental report in December and decide in March whether to give the project priority over the other projects, De Haan said.

Proposed Burbank Rail Line Routes The proposed route for a light rail line would begin at Burbank Airport and run on existing railroad tracks to Union Station. Two alternative routes designed to serve downtown Glendale would increase costs and create more environmental impacts. RAIL VOTE PREVIEW: B1