By Lookout Staff

February 23 -- Los Angeles Council member Bill Rosendahl called on his colleagues this week to get on board a coordinated "rail network" for the Westside that could help alleviate Santa Monica's traffic woes.

Rosendahl -- who has presented an ambitious transportation agenda since his election two years ago -- introduced a motion Wednesday that would explore creating a coordinated Westside "rail network" by linking east-west mass transit lines.

"When it comes to mass transit and fighting gridlock, we cannot think piecemeal," Rosendahl said."We need a coordinated, comprehensive long-range strategy."

The study -- funded with $200,000 in traffic fees paid by Westside development projects -- would look at where and how to connect the eventual Purple Line subway to the sea, the Exposition Light Rail line and the eventual Green Line extension into LAX.

Among the possibilities that will be studied would be adding a north-south rail line or merging the routes of two of the east-west lines, Rosendahl said.

“The study will also look at how best to link people with activity and employment centers as well as residential and recreational areas,” Rosendahl said.

A connected rail system with a “tremendous capacity to move people,” he said, is a "common-sense approach" to alleviating traffic gridlock on Westside streets and freeways.

Rosendahl's motion specifically requests the council to authorize and instruct the Department of Transportation to add a comprehensive Westside Los Angeles rail corridor and connectivity analysis to DOT's West LA Traffic Study.

In addition, the council would authorize the transportation department to apply for grant funding from other agencies such as SCAG, SCAQMD, Caltrans and Metro. They money would help prepare a comprehensive plan, including environmental and technical studies, for transportation improvements within the West LA Traffic study area.

"The current state of our traffic gridlock requires a detailed and comprehensive analysis of our transportation infrastructure," Rosendahl said. "I want to ensure that the Department of Transportation is well-equipped to provide such a study."

Rosendahl’s motion comes two months after he unveiled an “anti-gridlock plan” that included short-term and long-term projects to relieve congestion and promote mass transit on the Westside. The expenditures, all on the Westside, total more than $11 million dollars and require formal council approval.

Rosendahl's motion, one of many within his spending proposal, was referred to the City's Transportation Committee.