NORTH HOLLYWOOD : Group Renews Fight Against Monorail

Fresh from a legislative victory in Sacramento, the Valleywide Transportation Council this week began plotting new strategy against a proposal to build an elevated monorail down the Ventura Freeway.

Their main tactic--a bill sponsored by state Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles) requiring the freeway to comply with minimum state and federal safety standards before a monorail could be built--passed the Senate Transportation Committee last week by a 6-1 vote.

A council spokesperson said Tuesday that the group would rally homeowners who support the bill and wage a letter-writing campaign before it goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 3.

“It shows there is bipartisan support for this legislation--hopefully we’ll be able to get it all the way through,” said council co-chairperson Kelly Davis, who is also field representative in the office of Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Brentwood).

If passed, the bill would require the freeway’s lanes to be widened and its shoulders and median extended before a monorail could be constructed.

Opponents of the measure say that it is little more than a ruse to stall construction of a monorail or elevated train.

But Charles Harder, a legislative consultant to Rosenthal, disagreed.

“We just don’t want to be setting a precedent here,” Harder said. “We don’t want every town in California to think it can just put a train on its freeway without meeting at least minimum safety standards.”