Traffic light plan won’t ease key bottlenecks, officials say

A new attempt to reduce congestion throughout Los Angeles by synchronizing all traffic signals will have only a minimal effect on the most bottlenecked intersections despite assurances from leaders that driving delays will decrease, officials acknowledged Tuesday.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced Tuesday that Los Angeles would receive $150 million to synchronize the city’s 4,385 intersections with signals -- reducing drive times up to 16%, or shaving about 5 minutes from a 30-minute drive.

But officials with the city’s Department of Transportation said synchronization alone would not bring much relief to intersections beset by bumper-to-bumper traffic, including the junctions of Highland and Franklin avenues in Hollywood, and Ventura and Sepulveda boulevards in Sherman Oaks.

“At some places, you may not be able to solve the problem,” said John Fisher, assistant general manager of the transportation department.

“Even though we may not be able to bring smooth flow to an over-saturated intersection, at least we are managing, measuring and monitoring it so we can advise people not to take that route,” Fisher said.

Schwarzenegger and Villaraigosa insisted that the money would make a difference not only in congestion but also to the environment.

Reducing the amount of time cars idle, they said, would decrease carbon emissions, the primary component of greenhouse gases.

The governor called the synchronization effort, scheduled to be completed in June 2011, a “major part of the solution to get rid of the traffic jams here in Los Angeles. This means, of course, a smoother and faster and safer commute here in this city.”

Although Schwarzenegger and Villaraigosa announced the synchronization money Tuesday during an appearance with other officials in the city’s traffic control center beneath City Hall, the $150 million was actually approved nearly two months ago.

Schwarzenegger signed a bill Aug. 24 that earmarked the money for Los Angeles about the same time that state leaders seized $1.3 billion of gasoline tax revenues from transportation agencies to help balance the budget.

Local transportation officials accused state lawmakers at the time of playing a “shell game” by using the state bond money to backfill cuts faced by transit agencies.

As a result of the state action, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will lose $336 million this fiscal year, reducing money for bus and rail operations. That loss threatens to delay several major transit and highway projects.

On Tuesday, MTA officials welcomed the city’s announcement on traffic synchronization but bemoaned money lost for their traffic plans, adding that the region’s transportation needs far outstrip available funds

“We’re behind the eight ball on maintenance for our streets and highways, let alone building new highways and transit projects,” MTA spokesman Marc Littman said.

Transit experts say the city’s traffic synchronization plan is a good idea but will do little by itself to address traffic tie-ups.

“Obviously it can help. Is it adequate? No,” said Randall Crane, associate director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UCLA. “We’re going to have traffic congestion under any scenario.”

Crane said the city might want to consider other, sometimes politically unpopular strategies to relieve traffic such as a recent plan proposed by Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky to convert Pico and Olympic boulevards into one-way thoroughfares, or the practice of congestion pricing -- charging motorists to drive through busy parts of the city.

As a candidate, Villaraigosa promised to reduce traffic congestion. He has taken steps to curb the problem, prohibiting rush hour parking on major thoroughfares such as Wilshire and Ventura boulevards, and dispatching traffic officers to busy intersections during peak driving times.

But those efforts have had only a small effect on what many consider to be one of Los Angeles’ most vexing urban irritants. And Villaraigosa has been criticized for not having done more to fight the state cuts in transit money. The mayor said he lobbied as vigorously as possible.

Before Tuesday’s announcement, Villaraigosa showed a group of officials around the city’s underground Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control Center, pointing out a bank of monitors that displayed traffic conditions at several intersections and roadways throughout Los Angeles.

He smiled for a dozen television cameras that captured the scene.

“We’re giving commuters in Los Angeles the green light,” Villaraigosa said.

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duke.helfand@latimes.com