Snags, Rising Costs Plague Work on Sylmar Train Station

Dear Street Smart:

As a longtime resident of Sylmar, I am perplexed by the stop-and-start construction work near San Fernando Road and Hubbard Street.

This is where Sylmar’s Metrolink station is supposed to be built. Maybe you can find out what in the world is going on with this project.

We’ve been promised this station for about a year. Some construction work began, but then it stopped. What’s going on, and when will this station be open?

George Power, Sylmar

Dear Reader:

You’re not the only one who’s perplexed and angry. Metrolink commuter trains to downtown Los Angeles have been running since October, 1992, but they haven’t been stopping in Sylmar because that station isn’t ready.

Two Valley city councilmen--Hal Bernson and Richard Alarcon--scolded city and Metrolink staff members last month for the protracted real estate negotiations, bureaucratic snags and mounting costs that have plagued this station.

You saw some work being done at the site because a construction contract was awarded for this project. But the builder was forced to wait around for city permits, and ultimately, the contract was canceled. That cost the city about $100,000 in penalties--which did not please the council members.

Nevertheless, Gray Crary, Metrolink’s Sylmar station project manager, says he has now finally lined up just about all the permits and easements. He’s asked contractors for new bids, due early this week.

Crary plans to ask the Southern California Regional Rail Authority, which runs Metrolink, to award a new construction contract at Friday’s board meeting.

The original builder spent about $575,000 on preliminary work and electrical supplies, which can still be used. The remaining work is expected to cost between $1 million and $1.5 million, Crary says. The new contractor must finish the station within 90 days, after an expected start in the first week of January.

Throw in a few extra days for winter rain delays, and the Sylmar station will probably be open in April, Crary says.

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Dear Street Smart:

I have heard for a long time that the Getty Center Drive off-ramp from the southbound San Diego Freeway is very dangerous. This evening, I found out just how hazardous it is.

When you get to the bottom of the ramp, and you want to turn left to head south on Sepulveda Boulevard, it is an impossible task. Because of the curve, you cannot see oncoming traffic very well. It’s tough to tell when it’s safe to turn.

There needs to be a traffic signal at that intersection. Why don’t you check it out?

Robert Shafron, Northridge

Dear Reader:

We did check it out, and as the old saying goes, there’s good news and bad news.

The good news is that a signal is indeed planned for this tricky intersection. The bad news is, no one knows how soon it will be installed.

When you’re heading south out of the Valley on the San Diego Freeway, Getty Center Drive is one of the last exits before the Westwood-Brentwood area. When the freeway is clogged, some drivers exit at Getty Center, hoping to find less congestion on Sepulveda Boulevard.

When city officials approved plans for the J. Paul Getty Center, a cultural complex being built overlooking the freeway, they ordered the Getty folks to pay for a new traffic signal at this exit.

Los Angeles officials said this was justified because the Getty Center is expected to attract about 1.5 million visitors a year, many of whom will use this intersection. (The center should be completed in 1997.)

The new signal and some widening of the intersection are expected to cost the Getty Trust about $140,000, says Peter Wong, a Caltrans engineer who oversees traffic lights. “The money is there, and they are anxious to build it, pending approval by the state and city,” Wong says. He predicts that the signal will be built within a year.

But William A. Law, a private engineer hired by the Getty Trust, says he’s still waiting for state officials to OK his preliminary signal plans. In addition, Law says he’s negotiating with city officials, who now want more ambitious signal improvements at this corner.

Until all of the bureaucratic approvals are in and the new signal is up, you may want to leave the freeway one exit earlier, at Mulholland Drive. There already are traffic lights there.

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Dear Street Smart:

Being a year-round motorcycle commuter between my home in the Antelope Valley and my workplace in the San Fernando Valley, I was very pleased to read your comments about motorcycle lane-splitting in the Oct. 25 column.

As you said, this refers to the practice of riding a motorcycle past a car that is traveling in the same lane. One of your readers wondered whether this should be outlawed as unsafe when Caltrans narrows some freeway lanes. A California Highway Patrol spokesman said there are no plans to make lane-splitting illegal.

In my years of commuting by motorcycle, I’ve had more problems when I’ve been riding in the middle of a lane than when I’m lane-splitting.

When I’m “white-lining”, it’s easier to watch out for those car drivers who just have to change lanes whenever traffic starts to back up.

They don’t signal. They don’t even check if there’s room.

When I’m lane-splitting, I’m coming up from behind and can see the little signs that mean a driver is going to change lanes. It may be a slight tip of the head or a quick glance to the side. Or it may be a change in the angle of the front wheels.

Every so often, I do get caught by surprise. But it happens a lot less often than when I’m riding in the middle of the lane.

I doubt if 37 years of motorcycle commuting--the last 14 between the Antelope Valley and Los Angeles--is enough to qualify me as an expert. But aside from those hazardous lane-shifters I just mentioned and the very few car drivers who deliberately straddle the center line when they see a motorcycle coming, I have found this to be a safe and convenient way to commute.

Ernest P. Hansen, Lancaster

Dear Reader:

Congratulations on your many years of safe commuting by motorcycle. In a phone chat with you, we also learned that traveling on two wheels saves you time and money.

By your reckoning, the ride from Lancaster to Chatsworth takes about 70 minutes by motorcycle. When you drive your Jeep to work, the ride takes 90 to 105 minutes, depending on traffic congestion.

You also told us the round trip burns up $6 to $7 worth of gasoline in the Jeep, compared to $2.50 when you ride the smallest of your three motorcycles.

Glad to hear you enjoy this mode of commuting. Just keep your eyes peeled for those reckless lane-switchers.