10 Possible Routes Identified for Valley Public Transit Corridor

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has identified 10 potential routes for a north-south public transit corridor in the San Fernando Valley, officials said Friday.

The proposed paths, which could include dedicated bus lanes, range from Topanga Canyon Boulevard in the west to Vineland Avenue in the east. One possible plan would run buses down the San Diego Freeway. Other possibilities include Canoga and Woodley avenues, San Fernando Road, and Reseda, Sepulveda, Van Nuys and Lankershim boulevards. Several of the routes would connect Metrolink or subway stations.

The transit agency’s other options include increasing regular bus service on existing routes, adding more Metro Rapid bus lines, or doing nothing.

One of the agency’s goals is to provide quicker connections from Ventura Boulevard’s Metro Rapid bus line to the future east-west busway, which will use a defunct rail corridor on Chandler and Victory boulevards to provide transit between Warner Center in Woodland Hills and the North Hollywood Red Line subway station, said Rick Jager, an MTA spokesman. The 14-mile busway is scheduled to open in spring 2005.

The proposals for the north-south corridor were generated by a $1-million, one-year study that began in May. The proposals are in their early stages and the study has not yet identified costs, Jager said.

MTA staff and consultants plan to present the top one or two options to the agency’s board early next year. About $100 million in state funding has been secured for the project. Already, bus-rider advocates are expressing concerns about the possibilities.

The proposed routes ignore most of Sylmar, said Bart Reed, executive director of the Transit Coalition, a rider advocacy group based in that community. “I’m extremely perturbed,” he said.

The transit agency plans to hold several public hearings on the potential routes.

Meetings are scheduled Sept. 9 in the ground-floor auditorium of Northridge Hospital Medical Center, 18300 Roscoe Blvd.; Sept. 10 in the main gym of the North Hollywood Recreation Center, 11430 Chandler Blvd.; and Sept. 12 in the main gym of the city of San Fernando Recreation Park, 208 Park Ave. Each meeting is expected to run from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.