Keeping Red Line Decisions on Track

State Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles) is trying to move a bill through the Legislature that would block construction of an elevated rail line along the Ventura Freeway between Studio City and Woodland Hills. His action is both premature and unduly constraining.

Rosenthal’s bill targets the San Fernando Valley East-West Rail Transit Project, which will eventually stretch the Metro Red Line from Universal City or North Hollywood to Warner Center. There are at least two options for this route. The more costly underground option would extend the subway westward from North Hollywood under Chandler and Burbank boulevards. An alternative, which would be less costly but more disruptive of traffic, would be an above-ground system along the median strip of the Ventura Freeway.

The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission conditionally approved the Ventura Freeway route. We say “conditionally” because the commission has now become the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and because the decision is contingent upon further study of both Red Line options. A final decision may not be made by the MTA until next year.

We have stated our own position on this matter, which was to suggest an extension of the subway to the San Diego Freeway. The MTA could then consider the feasibility of an above-ground solution for the second leg of the route.

Rosenthal’s bill, however, has thrown an unexpected wrench into these deliberations, and he is admittedly trying to force the Legislature to intervene in what is--and what ought to remain--a local planning matter.

The senator says he is motivated by a desire to ensure public safety. We note, however, that this is his second attempt to block above-ground construction along the freeway. Last year, Rosenthal sought passage of a bill that would have blocked such construction if more than 50% of the households nearby were opposed to the project. That measure died, and Rosenthal’s current bill deserves the same fate.

To be sure, there are some concerns about the Ventura Freeway route. The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission’s staff said as much when it noted, in December, that “the safety and constructability of this aerial guideway in the median of the Ventura Freeway has not been demonstrated.” That is part of the reason why a further project review of the Ventura Freeway option is under way.

It seems to us that the MTA deserves to consider all options and should not be constrained by decision making, however well-intentioned, in Sacramento. Rosenthal should drop the bill, or his colleagues should deep-six it for him.