L.A. Gets a Taste of Commuting at Its Worst

By NORA ZAMICHOW and JEFF KRAMER

Jan. 26, 1994 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

Traffic congestion between the Santa Clarita Valley and Los Angeles on Tuesday reached new highs since the earthquake--transforming one-hour commutes into morning-long ordeals--while motorists elsewhere found enough alternative routes to keep their cars moving at tolerable speeds, officials said.

As more people returned to work and schools reopened, the volume of traffic bypassing quake-damaged freeways hit new peaks. For those who depend on the Golden State Freeway, their congestion woes worsened after snow slowed one alternate route through the mountains.

Some traffic experts predicted that Angelenos would require about two weeks to learn to cope with the new world of commuting created by last week’s earthquake.

“Then traffic will equalize. Commuters will figure out alternatives,” said David (Dr. Traffic) Rizzo, author of a book on freeway shortcuts. “The motorist is very intelligent and will find the path of least resistance.”

In search of that solution, thousands of motorists fanned out on the Westside, using a network of surface streets, where traffic signals had been fine-tuned to increase the amount of green-light time on east-west thoroughfares. For them, the commute was a trip of wits and creativity, with what Caltrans called moderate delays.

But motorists traveling between the Santa Clarita Valley and Downtown Los Angeles found themselves mired in gridlock, taking almost two hours to travel less than 10 miles. “It’s getting worse,” said Joe Brahm, a Caltrans senior transportation engineer who oversees the traffic operations center.

Caltrans officials say there is precious little relief that they can offer those who depend on the Golden State Freeway, a portion of which collapsed in last week’s quake. For those beleaguered drivers, Tuesday’s commute is probably typical of what they will face for months to come, officials said. Trucks caused much of Tuesday’s congested conditions, coming in on southbound Interstate 5, Caltrans officials said. On average, the bottleneck at the junction of I-5 and the Antelope Valley Freeway has caused truckers to take detours of up to 150 miles, said Dave Titus, spokesman for the California Trucking Assn. Titus predicted that trucking companies would soon increase their rates for deliveries in the Los Angeles area.

“The delays are fairly extensive,” he said. “We’re talking about it taking two or three hours of delay getting into and out of the L.A. Basin.”

Caltrans officials can offer few road alternatives to I-5. Instead, they urge truckers to avoid the region’s freeways and encourage single-car motorists to car-pool, take a bus or Metrolink trains.

Ridership increased to 17,850 on Metrolink’s Santa Clarita line, but the response is not enough to solve congestion problems.

By contrast, motorists who usually take the Santa Monica Freeway have a host of options, including buses, various routes on surface streets, and other east-west links--such as the Century or the Ventura freeways. Since the earthquake, traffic on those two freeways has increased considerably.

The city has adjusted street lights around the Santa Monica Freeway to increase traffic flow and ease congestion on east-west streets that are serving as detours.

Four other freeways were damaged in the quake and O’Connell said that traffic has been moving at reasonable speeds in those areas.

On the Westside, O’Connell and others say, they have another powerful tool that they hope will keep cars moving: Car-pool lanes. But on Tuesday, the six miles of newly opened car-pool lanes remained virtually empty, while traffic occasionally slowed to bumper-to-bumper on the mixed-flow lanes.

The six miles of car-pool lanes on the Santa Monica Freeway run westbound near Normandie Avenue to Overland Avenue, and eastbound from Overland to Robertson Boulevard.

To help get the word out that cheaters, or lone drivers, would not be tolerated, the California Highway Patrol ticketed more than 100 motorists for illegally driving in the lane.

Most Westsiders also continue to shun an express bus line, No. 634, which was created after the quake and runs Downtown via Century City. Other local east-west bus routes showed some increase in ridership, MTA officials said.

But Alan Epstein, incoming chairman of Commuter Transportation Services, said he believed transportation attitudes will change. “Different people have different tolerances for pain,” he said, “those who are less tolerant of pain will act more quickly.”

In other transportation news:

* The intersection of the San Diego Freeway and Golden State in the San Fernando Valley reopened Tuesday.

* Washington Boulevard is expected to be opened to limited traffic this morning and Venice Boulevard would probably follow on Thursday. Fairfax Avenue is expected to open by this weekend.

Street Closures

Here is a list of Los Angeles city streets closed because of earthquake or other damage:

* Nordhoff St. bridge, west of Tampa Ave.

* Tampa Ave., Roscoe Blvd. to Parthenia St.

* Zelzah Ave. at Simi Valley Freeway (closed at San Fernando Mission Blvd. and Rinaldi)

* Balboa Blvd., San Fernando Mission Blvd. to Rinaldi St.

* Ellenita Ave., Rosita Ave. to Komar Drive

* Fairfax Ave. at Interstate 10 (closed from Venice Blvd. to Washington Blvd.)

* Venice Blvd. at Interstate 10, closed from Cadillac Ave. to La Cienega Blvd.

* La Cienega Blvd. at Interstate 10 (open southbound to I-10 on-ramp, closed under freeway to Venice Blvd.; northbound closed from Venice Blvd. to Cadillac Ave.)

* Barrington Ave., Mississippi Ave. to Pico Blvd.

* San Fernando Mission Blvd., Gothic Ave. to Hayvenhurst Ave.

* Wilbur Ave., Hatteras St. to Ventura Blvd.

* Wolfskill St., San Fernando Road to Laurel Canyon Blvd.

* Gothic Ave. and Simi Valley Freeway (closed from Woodley Ave. to Hayvenhurst Blvd.)

* Entrada Drive, Short Ave. to Pacific Coast Highway

* Olympic Blvd., Barry Ave. to Stoner Ave.

* Mulholland Drive, Beverly Glen Blvd. to Nicada Drive

* Cole Ave., Lexington Ave. to Santa Monica Blvd.

* Oakfield Drive, Beverly Glen Blvd. to Millbrook Drive

* Washington Blvd. at Interstate 10

* Whitsett Ave., Saticoy St. to Saticoy St. South