Council OKs $150,000 for North-South Light-Rail Study : Transportation: A proposed route along San Fernando Road from Sylmar to downtown is the third to be studied for the Valley.

The Los Angeles City Council agreed Tuesday to spend $150,000 to study a third commuter rail route through the San Fernando Valley.

The route would run north-south along San Fernando Road from Sylmar to downtown Los Angeles. The environmental impact of two proposed east-west routes for a commuter train is being reviewed by the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission.

The number of public transit riders along the proposed San Fernando Road corridor exceeds the number who use public transit along the two routes being studied by the county. But the county commission has already rejected the San Fernando Road corridor as a possible commuter rail route.

The commissioners maintain that an east-west line connecting Warner Center with downtown should be of higher priority than a north-south route because it would relieve Ventura Freeway congestion.

The council first considered spending $150,000 in Proposition A transit funds to have the county commission study the San Fernando Road route in October, 1988. Councilman Michael Woo proposed paying for the study to keep the north-south route in the running with the other two routes.

But Councilman Nate Holden held up the proposal in the council Transportation Committee. Holden, who chairs that committee, is a staunch advocate of the San Fernando Road route, but maintains that the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission should pay for the study.

The study is expected to cost about $200,000. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted last year to pay $50,000 of the study’s cost.

Also Tuesday, the council voted unanimously to establish a Rail Priority Task Force of city staff members, which will keep track of proposed rail projects and report on them to the council.

The light-rail commuter trains and Metro Rail subway are being considered as a means of mass transit for the Valley. The estimated costs of building the two options range from $750 million for a light-rail route to about $3 billion for the subway.