Politician and 2 More Groups Take Sides on a Route for Rail Line : Transportation: Endorsements by Paula Boland, a civic organization and labor council precede vote today.

On the eve of a decision by county transportation officials on the route of an east-west rail line for the San Fernando Valley, a civic group, a labor organization and a Valley assemblywoman took sides Tuesday on the hotly debated topic.

The United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley announced that it supports a mostly underground line that would parallel Burbank and Chandler boulevards. Meanwhile, Paula L. Boland (R-Granada Hills) and the Los Angeles Building and Construction Trades Council, a faction of the AFL-CIO, endorsed the rival project, an elevated rail line over the Ventura Freeway.

In the past two weeks, the Burbank-Chandler line has also been backed by Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Panorama City), chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, and Julian Nava, a Cal State Northridge professor and candidate for mayor of Los Angeles.

The new endorsements came a day before a meeting today by the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission to conclude years of debate by finally choosing a rail project to serve the Valley and connect it with the Metro Red Line subway to downtown Los Angeles.

Bob Scott, president of the United Chambers of Commerce, said his group voted almost unanimously Monday to support the Burbank-Chandler line because it wanted to “stand united behind a single concept for the future of transportation along this route.”

He said the group, which represents 21 Valley chambers and about 10,000 small and middle-sized businesses, had been split on the issue but decided to take a stand to help speed up the construction of a rail line in the Valley.

Scott said the group chose the Burbank-Chandler line because it would connect directly with such frequent destinations as the Van Nuys Civic Center, Valley College and Pierce College, and the freeway line would not. “The big point was that it would service these places directly,” he said.

The Burbank-Chandler line has previously been backed by the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., about 10 local elected officials and a coalition of eight Valley homeowner groups. The freeway line--often loosely referred to as the monorail alternative--is backed by three homeowner groups, county Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who is chairman of the Transportation Commission, and a self-described citizens committee that is primarily funded by developers and large businesses.

The Burbank-Chandler line would cost about $3.03 billion and run 14 miles from North Hollywood to Warner Center in Woodland Hills. The freeway line would cost $2.56 billion and would run 16.2 miles along the freeway median from Universal City to Woodland Hills.

At a news conference Tuesday with Antonovich, Ronald Kennedy, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO group, said he supports the freeway rail line because it can be built quicker and cheaper and the money saved could go to build other mass transit projects, which would mean more jobs for the construction industry.

“We need a shot in the arm for the economy,” he said.

Boland said she endorsed the freeway line because it could be built faster and “because the subway is extremely expensive.”

Antonovich said it was not too late for members of the United Chambers of Commerce to rethink their position and support a freeway monorail, which he said “serves the best interests of all Valley residents and the business community.”

Jerry Baxter, Caltrans director for Los Angeles and Ventura counties, also attended the Antonovich news conference and said he has long supported building a rail project along the freeway but declined to endorse a particular technology.

He said he does not support the Burbank-Chandler line because he fears the county will not have enough money to build it. “I don’t see where there is enough money to build a subway,” he said.