Subway Station Parking Shortage Sparks Outcry

When the Universal City subway station opens in June, only half of the 450 planned parking spaces will be available for commuters, sparking an outcry from neighbors who fear the result will be traffic gridlock and parking wars.

Some residents said the failure of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to provide adequate parking also undermines the purpose of the subway--to get people out of their cars and onto mass transit.

“A lot of people will get there, see that there is no place to park and get back on the freeway,” said Tony Lucente, president of the Studio City Residents Assn.

Others will drive into surrounding residential areas and try to park on the streets, Lucente predicted.

The transit agency plans to phase in additional parking as construction moves toward completion but will not likely have all 450 parking spaces at the subway station available until March of 2001, officials said.

MTA officials blame delays in awarding a construction contract, including the need to rebid the work, for the holdup of the parking spaces, but said they are making arrangements to protect the surrounding neighborhoods.

The situation is complicated because the four-block area around the Red Line station--nicknamed “the island”--is bordered by the Hollywood Freeway, which limits access.

Traffic in the area is already congested.

“We think it will add to congestion when people come to the subway station fully expecting a place to park, but won’t find a place to park,” Lucente said.

MTA officials said 70 buses an hour will drop commuters off at the subway station. Special drop-off areas will be set up for motorists. And commuters can always drive two miles to the new North Hollywood subway station, where there will be more than 800 parking spaces, said Rick Jager, an MTA spokesman.

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MTA officials said the agency will be working with the city Department of Transportation to protect surrounding residential neighborhoods. Enforcement of parking restrictions on residential streets will be tight, officials said.

“If need be, we might have traffic officers out there and we will look at signal-timing changes,” said Amir Sedadi of the Transportation Department. “We will work with the MTA closely and provide the best circulation in the area.”

Delays in awarding a contract for the parking lot, a bus plaza and a Ventura Freeway overpass linking the subway property with Ventura Boulevard account for part of the problem, officials said.

The six-month delay in awarding the contract occurred after the initial bidders failed to meet a requirement to include women and minority subcontractors.

After new bids were let, Brutoco Engineering and Construction won the $27-million contract, and was given the go-ahead in December to begin work.

Half of the area planned for parking is needed as a construction zone for the overpass, which is now scheduled to be completed in March of 2001, said Dennis Mori, the MTA’s project manager.

Once the overpass is completed, the MTA also plans to open an auxiliary lot with 100 parking spaces on Ventura Boulevard, bringing the total number of spaces that will eventually be available to 550.

Even before the contract glitch, some area residents questioned whether enough parking was going to be provided.

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Initially, the subway line was to extend to Woodland Hills, but now that it will end in North Hollywood, residents fear commuters from the West and north Valley will drive to North Hollywood and Universal City before boarding trains for downtown Los Angeles and beyond, said Tom Henry, a planning deputy for Councilman Joel Wachs.

Neighbors like Paula Friedman said they are deeply worried that already-congested streets will get worse.

“Everybody in our community is extremely concerned because parking is already a problem,” Friedman said. “If there is no place for these people to park, where are they going to go?”