Caltrans Proposes Projects to Ease Interchange Traffic

Two preliminary plans to address traffic congestion at the interchange of the San Diego and Ventura freeways were presented by Caltrans officials at a community meeting.

Tony Harris, Caltrans district director, presented the proposals to 30 residents at a Monday meeting at the Encino Community Center. He warned that the proposals may help traffic flow, but won’t be a complete panacea for the interchange--the fourth busiest in Southern California with an average of 555,000 vehicles a day.

“I think it will make some improvement, but it’s not going to solve the transportation problem as a whole,” Harris said. “The problem is, when [the interchange] was first designed it was never designed to carry all the traffic that it’s carrying today.”

The proposals are:

* Add a lane on the northbound 405 from Mulholland Drive to Greenleaf Street in Sherman Oaks.

* Add a lane on the connector from the northbound 405 to the eastbound 101.

Caltrans officials said the proposals have yet to be approved or funded.

The Environmental Planning Branch of Caltrans will analyze the proposals and issue an environmental report. A public hearing may then be held for comments, said Presley Burroughs, a Caltrans spokesman.

Some projects have already been approved for the freeway junction.

In October, Caltrans will begin accepting bids to extend the carpool lane on the southbound 405 from the 101 interchange to the Waterford Street exit in Brentwood, Harris said. The estimated cost is $18 million, he said.

Another project that is in the works is an extra lane on the westbound 101 from Van Nuys Boulevard and Hayvenhurst Avenue, he said.

Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles), who presided over the meeting, asked the residents to suggest possible short-term and long-term solutions.

There was no shortage of suggestions.

Greg Horowitz of Tarzana recommended building a new road through the Valley to West Los Angeles, possibly through Reseda Boulevard.

Sherman Oaks resident Joe Sorrento said a monorail system is “the most practical thing for Los Angeles.”

Elaine Shapiro, who commutes from her home in Encino to work in Culver City, said banning trucks on the 405 during peak hours could help ease traffic flow.

“The whole area is a parking lot,” Shapiro said. “It’s impossible to get through there.”

Others, however, blamed the Getty Center and other institutions along the 405 through Sepulveda Pass for the increased traffic flow.

“Sepulveda is totally jammed up because of the Getty Center,” shouted one angry resident.