Opponents Air Complaints on Valley Busway

Opponents of a proposed east-west rapid busway in the San Fernando Valley sounded familiar themes at a hearing Thursday before the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board.

Much of the talk behind the scenes, however, was not about the project’s merits or shortcomings, but about the absence of Mayor James K. Hahn, whose upcoming appointments to the 13-member board could play a crucial role in next Thursday’s vote on the project’s draft environmental impact report.

“Hahn says he wants a close relationship with the Valley, and we expect him to fulfill his duties with regard to his appointments to the MTA board,” said Diana Lipari, a Valley Glen homeowner and busway opponent. “We hope the mayor will have the three appointees sitting with him to make this important decision.”

About 100 people turned out to oppose the proposed 14-mile line along Chandler Boulevard that would link Universal City to Warner Center in Woodland Hills.

Lipari and others, notably hundreds of Orthodox Jews who live along the Chandler Boulevard corridor in North Hollywood and Valley Village, say the busway will increase noise, air pollution and accidents and reduce property values.

They also noted that Hahn promised Jewish leaders he was opposed to the line, saying a “transportation corridor along Chandler Boulevard is simply the wrong project for this area.”

Elle Salinger, a busway critic, said Hahn should be mindful of his promise to the whole Valley.

“If Hahn makes a promise to the people, he has to be accountable to us,” she said.

Hahn spokeswoman Julie Wong said the mayor stood by his opposition to the project on Chandler. She added, however, that he “wants to find a solution to meeting transportation needs and quality-of-life needs in that area.”

MTA officials estimate the Burbank-Chandler line would cost $285 million. Buses would average 29 mph, and a cross-Valley trip would take 28.8 minutes, according to the MTA.

An alternative route would bypass Chandler Boulevard and rely on standard buses north on Lankershim Boulevard and west on Oxnard Street before reconnecting with the busway at Woodman Avenue.

That line would cost $245 million, and buses would average 24 mph. A cross-Valley trip would take about 34 minutes, according to the MTA.

Transit officials and other proponents say the Chandler route is preferable to all others because the agency owns the right of way. They also contend that the line would help relieve the mounting traffic congestion along the 101 Freeway.

In a nod to the Jewish community’s Sabbath observance, the MTA is considering a proposal by Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky that would eliminate weekend service along Chandler Boulevard by rerouting the buses along Oxnard Street.

Other proposals would add mid-block crosswalks and outfit crosswalk signs with technology allowing them to be operated without effort by pedestrians, thereby not violating Sabbath prohibitions.

The MTA also has offered to build pedestrian bridges at a cost of $500,000 to $750,000 each over Chandler Boulevard.

But those measures have not sat well with opponents along other portions of the 14-mile route.

“What about our concessions?” asked Tarzana resident Jill Haber, whose group shares some of the same concerns as the Orthodox Jews.

Haber leads an anti-busway group called West Valley Concerned Citizens.