Daily News
April 13, 2000

By JASON KANDEL, Staff Writer

Commuters could save $17.7 billion over 20 years if traffic at three major gridlocked Los Angeles freeway interchanges were moving freely again, according to a national highway transportation study released today.

The costliest gridlock occurs at the Interstate 101/405 interchange in the San Fernando Valley, where estimated savings would amount to $6.5 billion over 20 years -- $711 a year per commuter -- if improvements were made so the five hours a day of stop-and-go conditions today eased to congested but flowing traffic.

The study by the nonprofit American Highway Users Alliance, a group that includes commuters, construction firms and trade organizations, offers no estimate on what it might cost to improve the 101/405 interchange. In focusing on the 101/405 as ground zero for Valley gridlock, the Daily News relied on private estimates that it would cost about $400 million or more to get traffic moving again at the freeway interchange.

"The major problem with this interchange is that it was designed more than 40 years ago," said Lawrence W. Fisher, the executiv California branch of the American Highway Users Alliance, which calculated the costs of the worst bottlenecks using California Department of Transportation and other figures.

"Traffic patterns have changed, volume has gone up 2 1/2 times since then, more people have moved into the Valley."

The study, called "Saving Time, Saving Money: The Economics of Unclogging America's Worst Bottlenecks," outlined problems with freeway interchanges nationally and calculated the costs that motorists and businesses could save if highway improvements were made.

Besides the Valley interchange, the two other L.A. bottlenecks are the Interstate 405/10 on the Westside and the Interstate 10/5 Improvements at the 405/10 would yield savings of $5.4 billion over 20 years -- equal to $581 per commuter per year.

At the 10/5 interchange, the savings would be $5.8 billion over 20 years -- or $570 per commuter per year.

The combined savings of improvements to get traffic flowing on all three freeways was estimated at $17.7 billion.

The report comes after the American Highway Users Alliance cataloged 166 of the worst bottlenecks across the nation, four of which are in the Southland, including the 55/22 "Orange Crush."

The study said relieving the bottlenecks can save lives, help the environment, save time and fuel, and enhance work productivity.

But the study also has its critics.

Naresh Amatya, a senior planner for the Southern California Association of Governments, which proposes widening the 101 Freeway, believes that commuters and businesses would benefit even more from simply widening the Ventura Freeway.

"Just improving the interchange will not do a whole lot because traffic on the 101 is so bad," he said. "This is just a Band-Aid-type situation that might help relieve traffic on the 405, but add to the 101."

While no specific improvements have been indicated by the study and no major improvements are planned by Caltrans, the report ass improvement that would bring traffic flow up to a minimally acceptable level.

The scale of this improvement would increase capacity to a point at which the facility would operate at level of service D. Level of service is a concept that traffic engineers have devised to describe how well highway facilities operate.

Five levels of service categories are used: A, B, C, D, and F, with A being the highest speeds and flows on a freeway and F being the worst, with stop-and-go traffic.

Allowing for a three-year construction period and a 20-year project life, bringing the 101/405 interchange up to a level D would generate more than $6 billion in economic benefits, the study found.

No specific improvements have been designed at this interchange, so identifying the improvement cost is not possible. State and local officials, however, must weigh the cost of needed improvements against the benefits to be gained once a project is complete.

In this case, the benefits to commuters, businesses, and the general public are estimated to be over $280 million annually, the report stated.

Assemblyman Wally Knox, D-Los Angeles, has fought hard for improvements to the interchange. Last year, he asked Caltrans officials to put the interchange improvements at the top of the state list.

The Los Angeles area may receive a long-awaited shot in the arm.

Gov. Gray Davis recently announced that he is proposing to fund several new state transportation projects across Los Angeles County, including: $150 million to buy up to 385 new buses for Los Angeles County; $236 million for a light-rail line from Union Station in Los Angeles to Monterey Park, about 10 miles; $245 million for the Alameda Corridor East, a 52-mile freight and passenger rail corridor in the Los Angeles-San Bernardino area; and $275 million for additional freeway lanes in the Los Angeles area.

Also last year, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials allocated $570 million for highway, street and mass transit improvements countywide, including congestion relief at the 101-405 interchange and other Valley projects.

The interchange projects already received $7.9 million under a spending package proposed by Davis and approved last July by the state Transportation Commission.


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