Mayor Makes U-Turn, Backs Valley Subway

Just hours before a crucial vote today on mass transit in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan weighed in Tuesday on the side of a mid-Valley subway line, dealing what could be a decisive blow to supporters of an elevated train above the Ventura Freeway.

Riordan made the announcement through his press office late Tuesday afternoon, less than 24 hours before the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is expected to decide the issue, the subject of years of bitter debate over the best way to link the West Valley to the Metro Rail system running from the East Valley to Downtown.

With his backing, supporters of a mostly underground line paralleling Burbank and Chandler boulevards now have at least four votes lined up on the 13-member MTA board, which meets this afternoon. In addition to Riordan, the proposal has won the blessing of Los Angeles County Supervisor Ed Edelman--the underground route’s most outspoken advocate--and two of Riordan’s three appointees to the MTA board.

“It’s a positive step,” Edelman said of Riordan’s endorsement. “It will aid immeasurably in the final outcome, so I thank the mayor.”

But fellow county Supervisor Mike Antonovich, the most ardent champion of the Ventura Freeway route, blasted the decision as a “slap in the face” to Valley voters, who favored a monorail above the freeway in a non-binding 1990 referendum.

“It’s better to have the mayor on board, but we’ll prevail,” Antonovich said.

Backers of an aerial system above the Ventura Freeway median--often referred to as a monorail although no specific type of train has been decided on--have suffered repeated setbacks in recent weeks.

These included an independent cost comparison that severely diminished the formidable financial advantage the freeway proposal enjoyed in earlier estimates. The study showed that an elevated railway would be only $19 million cheaper--less than 1% of the cost of either project--than a subway line if some subway stops did not include enclosed stations.

The narrowed cost differential has led some transit officials to rethink the position adopted in 1992 by the MTA’s precursor, the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, in favor of the Ventura Freeway option.

Riordan himself, in embracing the subway proposal Tuesday, reversed his endorsement of the freeway elevated rail option in his election campaign last year. At the time, Riordan contended that the freeway choice would be far less expensive for the cash-starved MTA than a mostly underground line.

The mayor switched sides for several reasons, Deputy Mayor Rae James said Tuesday. Riordan took into account the reduced financial advantages of the freeway line, consulted extensively with Valley residents and elected officials, and considered the pro-subway stands taken by the city’s own transportation department and the City Council, James said.

The transportation department last week recommended approval of the Burbank-Chandler alignment as a better way of connecting with local bus services and easing congestion along the Ventura Freeway corridor.

James said the mayor was also influenced strongly by the argument that the underground line through the middle of the Valley would provide a backup transit corridor if the Ventura Freeway across the southern rim of the Valley were damaged in a natural disaster. Also, passengers on the subway would have an uninterrupted ride on the Metro Red Line all the way into Downtown Los Angeles, without having to change trains.

Still, Riordan is interested in finding ways to further economize on subway construction, said his press secretary, Noelia Rodriguez.

Rodriguez said the mayor wants the MTA to explore the idea of postponing some station openings in the West Valley, where ridership is expected to be lower, and to look into “cut-and-cover” construction techniques, which would put the line in a covered trench that would not be as far underground as a traditional, and more expensive, deep-bore subway system.

James said her boss rejected arguments that an at-grade system along the Ventura Freeway median--another alternative recently introduced by the route’s supporters--could be the cheapest option of all, possibly by $600 million.

Although some officials have called for further study of the idea, James said the time to make a final decision is at hand.

“We can second-guess this thing into the next century. We’ve been second-guessing it through the last decade,” she said. “It’s time to decide this now.”

She added that the city transportation department does not believe an at-grade system would save as much money as its proponents claim.

Although Riordan’s support for the subway system came as a blow, Antonovich’s camp is hoping to win over undecided MTA directors, such as Huntington Park City Councilman Raul Perez, for whom economics remains the key.

“I’m certainly going to lean toward whoever offers the greatest savings,” Perez said. “We don’t have money to spare anymore.”

MTA board member John Fasana, who is also leaning toward the freeway route, said the MTA should reduce underground construction in light of the recent spate of subway tunneling problems beneath Hollywood Boulevard.

Of Riordan’s three appointees to the MTA board, Northridge real estate agent Mel Wilson and Los Angeles attorney Stan Sanders have lined up in support of the mayor’s position.

The third, Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre, has not publicly taken a stand, but Deputy Mayor James said Riordan has spoken with Alatorre and that the two have reached “an understanding,” although she declined to elaborate.

“The mayor feels that the city needs to vote as a block on this one,” James said.