By Kelly Rayburn
Daily Bruin Contributor
A study by the Southern California Association of Governments to
be released Dec. 14 may propose ““ among other alternatives
““Â that the 101, 405 and other Los Angeles-area freeways
be double-decked to reduce traffic.
SCAG functions as the metropolitan planning organization for six
Southern California counties, including Los Angeles, and is
mandated by the federal government to research and draw up plans
for transportation.
Despite reports of a double-decking plan published by the
Associated Press, SCAG officials insist that it has not yet
endorsed double-decking.
“We are looking at various options, but we don’t
have a report at this time,” said Naress Amatya, a SCAG
spokesman. “We’re looking at adding more lanes on the
405, but we’re not necessarily saying it should be
double-decked ““ not at this point.”
But Amatya added that double-decking remains an option.
Critics of stacking a second level onto the freeways note the
potentially high costs involved.
“A big issue is the costs,” said James De La Loza, a
Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman. “There was a
similar project on the Harbor Freeway and it ran about $60-70
million per mile, and that was approximately ten years ago. So
they’re going to need to identify the funding and make sure
we can build it all.”
The impact during the construction period ““ both on
traffic and on the environment ““ needs to be considered, De
La Loza added.
Ron Milam, the executive director of the Los Angeles Bike
Coalition, another stakeholder group interested in the traffic
reduction issue, said both SCAG and the MTA have ignored bicycling
as an alternative mode of transportation.
“For what it would cost to double-deck any one freeway in
Los Angeles, hundreds of miles of bike lanes and bike paths could
be built,” he said. “Giving people the option to bike
is a better option than building more lanes on freeways.”
The California Department of Transportation ““ the
organization that would carry out the construction if
double-decking was ever approved ““ would not comment until
the SCAG study is released.
Los Angeles county’s population ““ already nearly
one-third of California’s ““ is estimated to grow by 3.5
million in the next 25 years, which would only further exacerbate
current traffic problems.
The MTA, though, is not sure that more freeways are the only
answer to the traffic question.
“Our position is that we need to look at all options
holistically,” said De La Loza, who added that improvements
in public transit warrant consideration, too.
The MTA will be releasing a study of their own in January which
will consider ways to reduce traffic other than building more
freeways.
The MTA supports spending tens of billions of dollars on
highway, subway, bus and light rail projects, according to the Los
Angeles Times.
But Amatya said SCAG supports similar advancements.
“We have many proposals in the Regional Transit Plan and
that included significant investment in regional transit,” he
said.
In their plan, the MTA is considering an extension of the subway
system’s Red Line all the way to Westwood.
There is some concern that the double-decked freeways might not
be earthquake-safe. In 1989, 42 people died on the Oakland Cypress
Structure during the Loma Prieta Earthquake.
Amatya said this is a concern and if double-decking were to be
approved the structure would be built according to “absolute
seismic standards.”
With reports from the Associated Press.