The Los Angeles Times has an interesting article today on the potential effects of building the HOV lane through the Sepulveda Pass. Not all of it makes sense to me as a roadgeek who drives that stretch daily. Of course, this could just be an example of the Times and their (ahem) unbiased reporting. For those unfamiliar, this discussion relates to the construction of a northbound HOV lane between I-10 and US 101; there is already a southbound lane to Montana, and work is underway to extend it further south to Route 90.
The key “sensationalizing” headline is that luxury homes and a church may need to be raised razed in one proposal. However, this proposal really has nothing to do with the northbound HOV lane. When they built the SB lane, they received a waiver to use 11 ft lanes. In order to go to 12 ft lanes (and thus permit 70 mph — if that would ever happen), they would have to take out some homes and a church along Church Ln (in fact, to do so, they would have to remove Church Lane entirely, or reroute it, taking even more homes). I don’t see why the need to do this — I’ve had no problem navigating our vanpool over the 11ft lanes.
Let’s look at northbound now. Admittedly, this is where the problem is. They are going to have to scrape away the mountain and build retaining walls. They are going to have to widen or modify the supports for the Mulholland Bridge — a very tall structure. And yes, there are areas where they may have to take some business property (in particular, the Salvation Army center just before Wilshire might be at risk, as might some businesses before Moraga and the house right at the Valley Vista exit). But even then, what the Times is talking about doesn’t make sense. According to the Times, the plans might require demolishing a couple of two-story office buildings near the freeway, including one leased by Verizon.
The Times also indicates that to save some houses, Caltrans officials may close freeway ramps at Montana Avenue in Westwood, Moraga Drive in Bel-Air Estates and Valley Vista Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. Again, this makes no sense. That would make the stretch be very similar to Route 118 between Chatsworth and Simi Valley–the only exits would be Wilshire, Sunset, Getty Center, Mulholland, and US 101. I could see eliminating some of this, but Valley Vista? If they mean the NB offramp, this indicates poor planning, for they just reconfigured that exit as part of the I-405/US 101 interchange reconstruction. If they mean the SB exit, I can’t see how it would have any affect on the NB lanes (unless they plan to rebuild the HOV southbound… again, a waste of money).
Perhaps I should go to one of the community meetings. According to the Times, they are set for March 20 at Westwood Recreation Center, 1350 Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles; and March 21 at Valley Beth Shalom Synagogue, 15739 Ventura Blvd., Encino. Both will be from 5 to 8 p.m.
P.S.: I’ve posted my take on the upcoming school board election here in LA, which is really nasty. No one has commented, and I’d like to hear some opinions in case I decided wrong. Thus, this reminder…
