Trafficking in Politics

It was a perfect political picture--a phalanx of Democratic candidates gathered atop a Sherman Oaks high-rise for a photo-friendly press conference with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater. Slater came to the San Fernando Valley last week to announce a $500,000 federal study into ways of easing gridlock at the Ventura-San Diego freeway interchange. Democratic officials who lined up behind Slater for his announcement said the federal gravy had nothing to do with Tuesday’s elections.

Sure thing, guys. Even if the money and Slater’s visit were pure politics, both are long overdue and necessary to unravel the concrete knot that keeps Valley traffic tied up for miles in every direction. The interchange, built in 1956, is the fourth busiest in the state, handling 550,000 vehicles a day. It is the crossroads for the Valley’s busiest east-west freeway--the Ventura--and the busiest north-south freeway--the San Diego.

Slater’s visit adds to the pressure for solutions to making the interchange work better. Last month, Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles) called on Caltrans and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to begin a $10-million project that would add lanes to connector ramps and short stretches of freeway. It would be an interim fix until more a permanent solution could be found.

That’s what Slater’s study seeks. Rather than focus solely on the interchange, the federal study would examine the stretch of the Ventura Freeway between Thousand Oaks and the Hollywood Freeway interchange in North Hollywood. Slater said planners would look at everything from adding additional lanes to bolstering public transit. It’s a worthy endeavor but relief is still years away. Any projects that sprout from the study would be subject to the same sort of political fights and budget realities that have allowed traffic to gradually overwhelm the 42-year-old interchange.

As much as transportation planners dream of the day when commuters carpool, take the bus or ride the subway, the vast majority of Southern Californians still drive alone. The problems on key Valley highways will only get worse. Promoting alternative forms of transportation is important, but so is upgrading existing infrastructure.

To that end, Caltrans is widening the westbound Ventura Freeway between Sepulveda Boulevard and Hayvenhurst Avenue. And next year, a carpool lane will be added to the southbound San Diego Freeway between the interchange and Waterford Street in Westwood. Those will help. So would the projects for which Knox seeks funding. The federal study announced last week by Slater should allow a comprehensive approach to making traffic more manageable. But it must be more than an exercise in politics. It must be followed by action.