Transportation Bill Helps Valley

Cars have shaped our California culture. Drive-in restaurants, drive-through banks, and even drive-in churches started here. The flip side of our car culture is that we dont take a back seat to anyone when it comes to traffic congestion. But help is on the way.

After years of legislative gridlock, Congress approved a transportation bill that will both improve the flow of traffic on our freeways and surface streets and help the environment.

I worked with other California officials to include $130 million in the bill for a new car-pool lane on the northbound 405 Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass. The existing southbound Diamond lane has saved an average of 18 minutes a day on trips through the pass. Drivers in other lanes save time as well. A northbound car-pool lane would create similar savings for the 330,000 vehicles that use that stretch of the 405 every day. Building the project from the 10 Freeway to the 101 Freeway is estimated to cost up to $500 million. The state was going to build the project a decade from now with its own money. The $130 million in federal funds will make it possible for construction to get underway sooner.

Another provision in the bill also will improve air quality. We cleared the way for California and other states to allow solo drivers of fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles on High Occupancy Vehicle lanes. Until the federal law was changed, California could not implement a new state law permitting hybrids on car-pool lanes. Now, under a provision I first proposed two years ago, states have the flexibility to regulate when and how fuel-efficient hybrids can use Diamond lanes.

The bill also provides $13 million for road resurfacing, lighting and mass-transit projects in the San Fernando Valley, including $4.1 million in the Northwest Valley.

It sets aside $400,000 to improve the intersection at Balboa Boulevard and San Fernando Road; $160,000 to widen Haskell Avenue between Chase Street and Roscoe Boulevard; $800,000 for new roadway lighting in the Northwest Valley, and $96,000 to improve Balboa Boulevard at the Knollwood Shopping Center.

Another $271,700 is earmarked for a new tram at Cal State Northridge; $209,000 to build a transit center at Los Angeles Mission College; $836,000 for a transit center at Pierce College; $501,000 for the Reseda Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit Route, and many other important projects that will improve traffic flow and reduce delay.

I am pleased to report that the transportation bill is a big victory for the Valley.