Dennis RomeroIf you think about it, L.A.'s light-rail revolution, which includes the Red and Purple subway lines, has pretty much passed up the vast, car-dependent San Fernando Valley.
The Valley gets a little taste of the Red Line, which has stops in Universal City and North Hollywood, and it has a broad busway called the Orange Line. But some argue it could use more.
A state legislator is hoping that Metro will get on board with his idea to drop a light-rail line in the middle of it all:
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Van Nuys Assemblyman Nadrin Nazarian announced that his bill to repeal a ban on light-rail development in the Valley was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown yesterday. It will become law Jan. 1.
His office says the law will “address the growing demands of public transportation in the greater San Fernando Valley.”
It doesn't appear that the all-mighty Metro board is getting on this train just yet.
But Nazarian's office says this will allow the transportation authority to “take advantage of available transportation resources.”
In other words, it would open the door to having Metro ask for federal funds (and maybe extra local taxes) to pay for Valley light rail, specifically along the Orange Line bus route.
Credit: Metro
Coby King of the Valley Industry & Commerce Association (VICA) says it's his community's turn to get a light-rail line that could run north-south from Canoga Park to Chatsworth:
The Metro Orange Line has been a victim of its own success, and is now so overcrowded and slow it has to turn away new passengers. Conversion to light rail is the best option for the Orange Line, with its significantly higher ridership potential and low cost relative to heavy rail and underground subways.
Nazarian himself says that having a train run though the Valley would “lead to greater connectivity to the Red Line and other transportation lines throughout Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.”
It would certainly do a lot to open hipsters up to a vast new frontier beyond the so-called Eastside.
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