Rosenthal Introduces Bill to Stop Proposed Rail Over Freeway

State Sen. Herschel Rosenthal introduced legislation Friday intended to kill a proposed elevated rail line over the Ventura Freeway, which is on the verge of final consideration by county transportation authorities after years of heated debate.

It is the second attempt by Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles) to block construction of an elevated rail system above the freeway.

Rosenthal’s proposal would prohibit building a rail line over any freeway that does not meet state and federal safety standards. Rosenthal said he drafted it because the lanes and median on the Ventura Freeway are narrower than state and federal design standards allow and a rail line would reduce them further.

“I don’t think it’s sound policy to grant exemptions to safety standards for programs that everyone comes up with,” he said.

The legislation, called Senate Bill 609, is scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Transportation Committee on April 20.

The proposal for an elevated rail line over the freeway between Universal City and Woodland Hills won tentative support last year from the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission. It awaits final approval by the newly formed Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

For years, a debate has raged in the San Fernando Valley over the design and route of a mass-transit rail line from the Cahuenga Pass area to the west end of the Valley. The alternatives were narrowed to a choice between the 16-mile elevated freeway line and a mostly subway line parallel to Burbank and Chandler boulevards.

The elevated rail line has the support of Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, former chairman of the Transportation Commission, and a group of homeowners along the proposed subway route. Supporting the Burbank-Chandler line is a coalition of homeowners, business groups and several elected officials from the Valley, including Rosenthal, who represents Sherman Oaks and much of the Westside.

Rosenthal’s legislation could scuttle the elevated rail line because the Ventura Freeway has been granted several exemptions from state and federal safety standards, particularly as part of a $40-million widening project completed in January.

According to a March 25 letter to Rosenthal from Jerry Baxter, Caltrans district manager for Los Angeles and Ventura counties, federal and state design standards specify freeway lanes 12 feet wide and a median of 22 feet.

The freeway lanes between Sherman Oaks and Woodland Hills are 11 feet wide and the median is 8 feet wide, he said in the letter.

A Caltrans spokesman said it is common for freeways in urban areas to be narrower than the specifications.

In order to meet the state and federal standards, the freeway would have to undergo extensive widening, including buying adjacent property and rebuilding sound walls, Baxter said.

Rosa Kortizija, transportation deputy for Antonovich, criticized Rosenthal’s legislation, saying the bill would usurp local control on an issue that affects many residents.

“It is trying to govern from Sacramento,” she said.

But it is not Rosenthal’s first attempt to use legislation to influence the final decision on the Valley rail line.

Last year, he drafted legislation to require underground construction of any rail line built along the Ventura Freeway. He later revised the bill after protests from fellow lawmakers to simply give homeowners along the rail route the final say on whether to build the line or not. The bill lacked support in a key committee and failed.

In 1991, former state Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys) wrote a bill that required the Burbank-Chandler route to be built mostly underground. The measure passed and was signed into law by Gov. Pete Wilson in June, 1991.