http://www.losangelesregister.com/articles/line-599294-metro-bus.html
By Jordan Graham, May 13, 2014
The way in which people travel to, from and around the San Fernando
Valley will significantly transform over the next three decades.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and
other agencies are set to pour billions of dollars into beefing up bus
and rail lines, freeways and bikeways. The result will better link
Valley residents to each other and connect L.A.’s northernmost regions
with the rest of the city.
This is a glimpse into the future of transportation to and from the Valley:
1. A Valley-to-Westside bus line that uses I-405’s carpool or shoulder lanes
Projected completion date: One option could launch between June and year’s end. Other options would take more time.
Why it’s needed: It can take an hour to drive from
Sherman Oaks to Santa Monica during rush-hour traffic and more than two
hours via public transportation. In 2010, the U.S. Department of
Transportation listed I-405 as the busiest urban highway in America and
the third-most congested. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority said traffic is expected to increase from its
current volume of 331,000 vehicles per day to 430,000 by 2030.
The proposal: Next month, the last leg of I-405’s
northbound carpool lane is set to open, marking the completion of a
five-year, $1.1 billion Metro project that created high-occupancy
vehicle lanes in both directions between I-10 and the 101. Now, Metro is
eyeing a way for buses to take advantage of that new space.
County Supervisor and Metro board member Zev Yaroslavsky recently
asked the board to study the possibility of launching bus line 788 – a
peak-hour express bus that would run from Panorama City, south on Van
Nuys Boulevard, then travel west, parallel to the Orange Line, before
running nonstop on I-405 to Westwood.
But those buses would still enter the freeway using regular on-ramps
and operate in mixed traffic with motorists. If the carpool lanes and
ramps also are congested, bus 788 would be stuck, as well. That’s why
Metro also is considering a plan that calls for the agency to build
direct-access ramps for buses, which would provide direct access to
bus-only lanes. A second plan would allow buses to use freeway shoulder
lanes during peak hours.
Funding: Nothing has been budgeted for a new bus line to launch in 2014.
What’s next: Yaroslavsky asked the board to report on its findings about bus line 788 at the board’s May 22 meeting.
2. A tunnel under the Santa Monica Mountains
Projected completion date: Metro’s long-range plan
lists the opening year as 2039 because funding for the project won’t be
available for at least another 14 years. But if the agency partners with
private companies to build the tunnel, the project could be completed
much sooner.
Why it’s needed: The Santa Monica Mountains are without
a doubt the greatest impediment to fluid travel from the San Fernando
Valley to the L.A. Basin, with only a few passes and canyons slitting
through the divide. As the Valley population continues to grow,
improvements to public transportation on and along I-405 likely won’t
provide enough options for those crossing the hills.
The proposal: Three of the options Metro has proposed
to improve travel from the Valley to the rest of the city rely on a
tunnel. The proposals include:
• Constructing an 11-mile tolled tunnel for buses and automobiles that would run from the 101 to Santa Monica Boulevard.
•
Creating a 6-mile tunnel that would provide a path through the
mountains for a new 28-mile light- or heavy-rail line that would connect
the Sylmar Metrolink Station to a future Crenshaw/LAX Line station near
LAX.
• Building two tunnels: a 21-mile tolled highway tunnel with
multiple access points from Roscoe Boulevard to near LAX and another
21-mile tunnel for a private rail shuttle with five stations from Van
Nuys to LAX.
Funding: Metro has budgeted $2.47
billion to improve traffic flow through the Sepulveda Pass, but the
agency estimated that the most basic tunnel option would cost at least
$10 billion.
One way to make up the difference would be for Metro
to partner with one or more private companies that would help construct
the tunnel in exchange for a cut of toll revenue or the rights to
operate a private rail shuttle. Metro has discussed the possibility with
several privately owned companies.
Another option would be for
voters to approve another L.A. County sales tax similar to Measure R. In
March, local transportation advocacy group Move LA proposed Measure R2,
another half-cent sales-tax increase that the group estimated would
raise $90 billion over 40 years and help pay for the tunnel.
What’s next: Metro
plans to conduct a survey to determine how much drivers would be
willing to pay to use a tolled highway through the mountains.
3. A rail line, bus lane or tram on Van Nuys Boulevard
Projected completion date: 2018,
according to Metro’s Long Range Transportation Plan. But if the agency
opts to build a light rail line instead of a bus-rapid transit system,
the opening date could be delayed to sometime between 2020 and 2030.
Why it’s needed: Of
the 460,000 people who live in the East San Fernando Valley Corridor (a
term coined by Metro to describe an area lying roughly between I-405
and Fulton Avenue from Sherman Oaks to the city of San Fernando), 35
percent depend on public transportation. The stretch is the
seventh-busiest bus corridor in the Metro system and has the
second-highest number of bus boardings of any region in the Valley,
behind only the Orange Line.
The proposal: Van Nuys
Boulevard is one of the widest streets in the Valley because, during the
first half of the 20th century, Pacific Electric operated an electric
train that ran on the street’s median until the service ended in 1952.
Metro aims to create a similar system; in October, the agency proposed
five mass-transit options for the corridor, which included bus-only
lanes, a light-rail line or a tram that would run either curbside or in
the median from Sylmar to Ventura Boulevard.
Each transit option
has various pros and cons. A bus line could have twice as many stops in
the corridor as other options but would travel at a lower speed and have
less capacity. A light-rail system would run the fastest and hold the
most passengers but would be expensive and have fewer stops. A tram
could operate in lanes with cars and would have a high rider capacity,
but Metro has no experience with this mode of transit.
All options
would take lanes away from motorists and remove parking spots, and
local businesses and neighborhood groups have voiced concern that the
projects could further congest roads, make it difficult for emergency
vehicles to travel the boulevard, and take away business from the area.
Metro has countered that the dedicated mass-transit lanes would be able
to carry more people through the area than cars could.
Funding: Metro’s
plan budgets $170 million for the project, but early cost estimates
ranged from $250 million to more than $2 billion. Metro has said it
could pursue other funding sources, depending on which option it
chooses.
What’s next: Metro is creating an environmental impact
report that examines several of the options and is expected to be
available for public review this summer.
Unfunded, unplanned or unlikely options
4. The “Valley U” Proposal: A 5-mile stretch of Ventura
Boulevard sits between the southern ends of the 741 and 761 bus lines.
The “Valley U” line would fill this gap and provide more access to
Ventura Boulevard by creating a seven-day-a-week, U-shaped bus line that
ran from Northridge down to Sherman Oaks and back up to Pacoima. This
line could also include service to Westwood.
5. The bullet train: California plans to build a $68
billion high-speed rail system from San Francisco to Anaheim, and the
California High-Speed Rail Authority has proposed three potential stops
in the San Fernando Valley – in the cities of San Fernando, Pacoima and
Burbank. The plan calls for the 520-mile line to be completed in 2029,
with a train capable of transporting passengers from L.A. to San
Francisco in less than three hours. But an ongoing court case and
proposed legislation threaten the state’s ability to use money from the
$10 billion bond measure California voters passed in 2008, and
politicians have proposed everything from proposed public-private
partnerships to emissions trading credit income to fund the project.
6. Bob Hope connections: Metro’s 2009 Long Range
Transportation Plan is more than a document that simply plots the future
of Los Angeles County rapid transit; it also is a wish list for
transportation projects Metro and county municipalities would like to
see completed, regardless of whether they can be funded. One such
proposal is a rail line or dedicated bus lane that would connect North
Hollywood to Burbank’s Bob Hope Airport.
7. Switching the Orange Line to a rail system: The
Orange Line bus right-of-way runs along the route once traveled by the
Southern Pacific Railroad’s former Burbank Branch freight line. Though
the path is a former railway, Metro never had the opportunity to build a
light-rail system because California law forbade it on that corridor.
But with the success and high ridership of the Orange Line, state
Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian, D-Sherman Oaks, sponsored legislation that
would allow a rail line to be built on the route.
More bike lanes
The Los Angeles Department of City Planning’s second-year bike lane
implementation plan calls for two new Valley bike lanes: a 1.4-mile lane
to be built along Woodman Avenue from Roscoe Boulevard to Sherman Way
and an 8.4-mile lane to be built along Parthenia Street from Topanga
Canyon Boulevard to Kester Street. At least 15 additional bike paths are
planned or envisioned for the Valley.