Reversible lane OKd for Sepulveda Boulevard

The Times' Steve Hymon reports that the controversial Sepulveda Boulevard reversible lane plan is moving forward:

After years of talking and planning and more talking and a little arguing, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved a reversible lane for the Sepulveda Boulevard tunnel near the Sepulveda Pass. The tunnel has been a vexing problem for years because it can accommodate only three lanes of traffic, whereas the rest of Sepulveda through the Santa Monica Mountains is four lanes. Motorists trying to avoid the congested 405 Freeway between the Westside and the San Fernando Valley use Sepulveda. Complicating matters, the three lanes in the tunnel include two that are designated for southbound traffic and just one for northbound. As a result, afternoon rush-hour traffic returning to the Valley must squeeze from two lanes to one to get through the tunnel. The new plan seeks to remedy that by making the middle lane reversible. Two lanes in the tunnel will handle southbound traffic most of the time. Between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. weekdays, the middle lane will switch to northbound. The project is expected to cost $11 million and be completed in 2009. The city also plans to add a lane to southbound Sepulveda between Skirball Center Drive and Bergreen Place to help traffic flow at the chronically clogged intersection of Skirball Center and Sepulveda.

Comments

[Dan W.]

If it helps, great.

But it won't take the place of help as much as extending the Green Line to LAX up to UCLA over and into the Valley up to Metrolink.

That would give the 405 some relief and a valid alternative to commuters.