Riordan Backs Mid-Valley Subway Plan

Just hours before a crucial vote today on mass transit in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan weighed in Tuesday on the side of a mid-Valley subway line, dealing what could be a decisive blow to proposals for an elevated train above the Ventura Freeway.

Riordan’s announcement came less than 24 hours before the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is expected to decide the issue, the subject of years of bitter debate over the best way to link the West Valley to the Metro Rail system running from the East Valley to Downtown.

With the mayor’s backing, supporters of a mostly underground line paralleling Burbank and Chandler boulevards now have at least four votes lined up on the 13-member MTA board. In addition to Riordan, the proposal has won the blessing of Los Angeles County Supervisor Ed Edelman--the underground route’s most outspoken advocate--and two of Riordan’s three appointees to the MTA board.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich, the most ardent champion of the Ventura Freeway route, blasted Riordan’s decision as a “slap in the face” to Valley voters, who favored a monorail above the freeway in a non-binding 1990 referendum.