Ugly side of 405 widening

The 405 widening through the Sepuveda Pass could get messy. The freeway widening will swallow up homes (and perhaps all of Brentwood's Church Lane). And Caltrans may close freeway ramps at Montana Avenue in Westwood, Moraga Drive in Bel-Air Estates and Valley Vista Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, according to The Times Jean Guccione:

With state funds now in hand, transportation officials are dusting off plans to widen the San Diego Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass, a $950-million project that could level homes and businesses in some of the region's most affluent neighborhoods. The most controversial option among the proposals would have the California Department of Transportation tearing down dozens of houses and a Lutheran church in Brentwood. A second, more palatable proposal calls for razing fewer homes, mostly as the freeway is widened through the San Fernando Valley.

Should Caltrans take homes for the greater traffic good? Hit COMMENT button below and speak your mind!

Comments

[Darrell Clarke]

Two points:

1. There's talk of using the HOV lanes for higher-volume BUS service over Sepulveda Pass. But there are no DIRECT RAMPS to get on and off at Wilshire Blvd. or in the Valley, so every bus would still be forced to change across all the lanes at each end of the pass. They did show direct ramps south from Santa Monica Blvd., the wrong place to be useful to buses.

2. It appears many of the property takes would be to widen the existing SOUTH-bound side, not to add another lane but just to meet federal lane-width standards. I suspect this study is to show the Federal Highway Administration that it would be too much of an impact and please let Los Angeles not do it.

[Wright Concept]

With more than 300,000 cars cramming through the Sepulveda Pass daily, what should be looked at is building a rail corridor as an alternative to the 405 through the pass to get between the isolated islands of the San Fernando Valley, the Westside and Los Angeles International Airport.

Imagine this line utilizing existing railroad or wide boulevards for trains and then tunnel through the Pass at 75 mph reaching Sherman Oaks from UCLA in a under 7 minutes!

Then this route continues north through the Valley and south down to LAX to connect with existing railroads and light rail lines already build and or Under construction, such as the Green Line, Expo Line even run portions next to the Orange Line busway better connecting riders to their destinations without transfers!

This would be more cost effective than widening a road that will create more congestion and add much needed business in the Valley so that Westside commuters can ride into the Valley and vice-versa.

[JP Perry]

Freeway widening is a short-sighted solution. You can't solve a problem using the same thinking that got us into the problem in the first place.

The 405 is already quite wide. Will constructing one more lane solve our traffic woes, or is it just a $1 billion drop in the bucket?

We have all been stuck in traffic and exclaimed "why can't they build another freeway?" and "why can't they add more lanes?" You have to stop yourself from thinking this way because it is not a long term traffic solution.

Instead, I think we have a lot to learn from our neighbor to the north, San Francisco. Read here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_francisco#Roads_and_highways

[Joe Bishop]

While I applaud improvements to our freeways, what money will be actually spent to help people find each other so they can carpool?

Most transportation projects are paid for by sales taxes, or bonds that will be paid back with sales tax revenue.

We will spend close to $1Billion to build these carpool lanes.

We will spend only about $50,000 to actually help people find each other so they can carpool.

Sites like http://ridebay.com exist to help commuters find each other to carpool. Our politicians are not keen on the idea. The LA MTA makes excuses for why rideshare / carpool does not work, and our elected officials have said that a system like http://ridebay.com is too risky. I believe the only risk is to the MTA's ability to continue to collect 1% sales tax.

Anyone home?

[Tim]

The "if you build it they will come" theory is absurd in the case of widening freeways and/or streets to accomodate additional traffic. Yes it's true that more people will use the 405 if it can accomodate more traffic, but firstly the additional users will be comprised of many carpoolers and secondly those additional users aren't people moving to Los Angeles to use the 405; they are people who may be using other routes such as Coldwater or Beverly Glen. Those streets will in turn receive some alleviation of traffic. This project is crucial to completing the network of HOV lanes throughout Los Angeles and though public transit needs to grow as well, it shouldn't be at the expense of removing all funding for highway projects. The greater good along with safety should always be top priority for public works projects.

[Gustavo Moura]

Yes, commute is horrible. But, no, widening the freeway won't solve the problem, it will only alleviate it for a couple of years. LA easily has one of the worst public transportation systems of any developed city. This money should be invested in mass transit and on educating the public on the benefits of carpooling, ride-sharing, and other alternatives to driving to work by yourself every day.
Widening the freeway will only put more cars in it, increase pollution, and make our city look uglier.

[Mark the Suss]

absurdity continues...the close to $1 billion dollars for this pjt should be used for mass transit options such as high speed rail or light rail options. Interesting to note that this project will be built in the shadows of the Getty Light Rail system. hmmmmmm?? Hello? anyone home?? (thought not)

[Hanif Nensey]

Commute is currently a nightmare between the Valley and the Westside. Anyone objecting to this project is either a vested interest or a hypocrite who does not have to deal with these hellish commute issues. As a teacher that lives in Valley and teaches at a school on the Westside, I wholeheartly endorse this project and as long as the property owners are properly compensated. I feel that the entire community should stand behind this project and see it through. As far as Alternative transportation solutions... first make them available (funding and all) before you knock this project.

[PM]

The overall greater good has to be the objective of any project. If it happens to affect some then it's the cost of living in a society where the greater good is valued over the convenience of some.

[Edward]

Hopefully, the city tears down the houses with the same speed and eagerness as they did when they razed the houses in Chavez Ravine to construct Dodger Stadium.

[Joan]

No. Instead there should be more commuter options, including park & ride locations + bus service.
Hardly any time will pass before the flat surface theory will prevail -- you build it, they will come.
It would also be helpful if gas prices were to rise even higher. How many more cars would fit on the freeways if cars were smaller!?
In addition, if the commute is awful enough, some number of people might choose to find work closer to where they live, or to live closer to where they work.
Definitely business should be encouraged to set up shop in less populated areas of the city, rather than congregating in West LA/Santa Monica.

[Jason Hoppe]

No. It's time to build up, not out. Building up here in California is long overdue of building out, not only on the highways, but in homes, apartments, condo's, commercial real estate and more.