Public Input Requested For Strategies to Relieve Congestion on US 101 Freeway - Ha Ha Ha
LOS ANGELES--Sept. 25, 2002--The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on Thursday completed a series of community meetings designed to gather public input on five proposals to improve traffic conditions on the US 101 Freeway between State Route 110 in downtown Los Angeles and State Route 23 in Thousand Oaks.The US 101 Freeway Corridor Improvement Study team, which also includes the Las Virgenes-Malibu Council of Governments (LVMCOG), Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) and City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), held evening open houses in Encino, Hollywood and Calabasas. The events were designed to solicit substantive feedback from the public as the ongoing US 101 Freeway Corridor Study ("Study") considers five strategies that could ease congestion and improve safety on one of the most congested highways in California.
This Study grew out of a February 2000 summit hosted by the LVMCOG which sought to identify funds to conduct a comprehensive study of the corridor. Then-State Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl drafted AB 2816, the state legislation which led to the award of $3 million from the Governor's Traffic Congestion Relief Program (TCRP).
The Study started with more than 50 possible solutions to reduce congestion, and improve mobility along the 40-mile freeway corridor. Through extensive public input spanning the last 12 months, the original set of strategies was pared down to a set of five screened strategies, which by year's end will be reduced to one preferred strategy. The preferred strategy will actually consist of a series of near-, mid-, and long-range projects throughout the corridor (involving freeway, local roadway, as well as bus and rail improvements) and will consider each community's unique attributes. At this time there is no funding for the projects that will be defined in the strategy, and thus no formal time frame for work to begin. If funds become available, construction for the long-range, major freeway improvements could begin in 2012 at the earliest. The five screened strategies under consideration are:
| -- | Strategy A -- Do nothing beyond what is already planned by local, county and regional transportation agencies. |
| -- | Strategy B -- Bus/rail transit and street improvements. This option involves expanding bus and rail service throughout the study area; building new and expanding existing park and ride lots; improving capacity, safety and operations on local streets; and improving on- and off-ramps on US 101 (also includes Strategy A). |
| -- | Strategy C -- Add one regular (mixed-flow) lane in four-lane segments of the US 101 Freeway and one carpool/transit lane in each direction of the freeway along the length of the study area. All new lanes would be built at grade (also includes Strategy A & B). |
| -- | Strategy D -- Add one regular (mixed-flow) lane at grade in four-lane segments of the freeway and two carpool/transit lanes in each direction of the freeway along the length of the study area. New carpool/transit lanes would be either at grade or elevated (also includes Strategy A & B). |
| -- | Strategy E -- Add one regular (mixed-flow) lane grade in four-lane segments of the freeway. Add a carpool/transit lane in each direction throughout the length of the study area and some form of rail service between the Red Line station at Universal City and Thousand Oaks both either at grade or on an elevated structure (also includes Strategy A & B). |
What happens next?
The Study team will narrow the five strategies to one preferred strategy by December 2002, incorporating the extensive public comment. When this milestone is reached, there will be a new round of public meetings to discuss the preferred strategy. Once all comments are taken into consideration, the team will seek funding sources to implement projects that fit within the selected strategy.
Comments can be submitted in the following manner:
-- Email: 101info@consensusp.com
-- Web: www.communityspeakup.com/101
-- Toll-free hotline: (866)MOVE-101 / (866)668-3101
Additional Study information and meeting notices can be found at www.communityspeakup.com/101.
