San Fernando Valley State College THE GEOGRAPHICAL IMPLICATIONS \\ OF A RAILR0l1.D GRADE SEPARATION IN NORTHRIDGE, CALIFORNIA A thesis submitted in pa:ctia.l satisfaction of the requirements for the Master of Arts in Geography by Scott Harrison Wil.liD.ms An•JU:.> t, 1970 The thesis o£ Sco~HarrisoQ Williams is approved: Committee Chairman San Fernando Valley State College August, 1970 ii ACKNmvL-EDGMtJ~TS The a'...lthor wishes to express his sincere appt:ecia- tion to the thesis committee, Professors Elliot Mcintire, Arnold Court and Gordon Lewthwa.:Lte for their encom:agement, criticism and patience thr.ou<;~hout the development and drafting of this thesis. D-rs. McintirE~ c..nd Court deserve spec_i<\l credit for tolerating my persistent intrusion upon their timea I arn indebted to Miss Ann Welling, Ivb::. Rob>:::rt: Frovin., lYir. Donald Ryan, and Mr. Michc;.el Swift, fox tl1ei:r~ efforts in prepa:r :ing the final manu.sc.r lpt. i· £1 ~ o.. f' -·.! .. ,,..• -'1 • r r.j -f- ·i 1 I ctm- · gro·_ -.. e U..l. ~.-o my x.u·.:..,.~'-"s a ... l. .. o.m~ 1 _y for rna.}~i11g t:be w:citing o:f this ·tb.esis, and in fc:..ct my entire scholastic E~ndeavo::c, a most memorable and <c"njoyabJ.e one. The Donald Rya.ns deseTve special thanks in trds regar:d. Finally, J would like to thank my hea.uti:fuJ. and . ~ vivacious Wj.I e, under.~;ta.nding dur:l.ng the fo~LFlul<::~.tion 21.~1d co111pletion ox iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments iii Abstract viii 1. INTHODUCTION 1 1.1 Railroad Grade Separation Controversy l. la2 St&tement o£ the Problem 5 1.3 Underlying Causes of the CQntroversy 8 1~3.1. GTowt:h o£ the San Fernando Valley and <=t Grade Crossing Problem 8 Grade Separation Construction 0 Hindered by Legal Matters 1.0 2. TEE NORT·H.tUDGE GRi\DE SEFAPJ\TION: A QUESTION CYF' RELftT IVE NEED 22 22 2~1.1 Arguments Fa.vori.n·:J Underp;:;~ss· 22 Construction 2*1.2 Evidence Substa:o.tiating Arguments 25 2 4.2 The Case Agair•st G:rade Sep2.. ration 28 2.2.1 Arguments Agai~st Project 30 2.2.2 Lack o£ Evidence to Support These A:cgt::m.en.ts 35 · 2 • .3 .l";ssess:men t of Co~nmission Dec is ion Favoring Se_para"'cion 3. CHANGES TN T1<.AFF.IC FL01A CHA.Ri\CTERISTICS: LAi'-.fD USE IMPACT IIvlF'LICATIONS 41 3.1 Success o£ Grade Sepa:ra tion: Condit.iona.l. 41 3*2 Kffect on Sa~fety Conditions 41 f-f:''-(.' J.-~- . .,..1 T···-:- ·.r--F · -.. ("r-· :oc-+· .. 1 3fl3 I.~----'- ~··-'"' ,. Q.,. 1 . .3... -·- J_c ·JC:i.l9c-' ,,]_0.1 3 e '0 Trat"fic and Lc.md Lise Inter.re13.ted 49 c: 3 • .::> S<c:'par:a.t:ion Impact on Adjacent Land Use Postul<\ted 51 53 4 o 1 H.ev:I.e•N of Hi9hwo.y Impa.ct Studies 53 .:.L2 Hcvision of 1-lighwc,y Impact Stu.dy Techniques 54 4, 3 The Study Ar:er..\ 60 .~~~. 4 Land U~:;~:; CU",ssi£ ica:tion I<.mployed 63 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) 5. LAND USE CHANGE IN NORTHRIDGE 69 5.1 Land Use: 1900 to 1960 69 5.2 Land Use; 1960 73 5.3 Land Use: 1960 to 1965 78 5.4 Land Use: 1965 to 1970 82 5e5 A Comparison of Land Use Changes: Before and After Separation 89 5o5&1 Nort.h Reseda Boulevard Matrix 91 5.5.2 South Reseda. Boulevard Matrix 93 5. 5. 3 East Parthenia Street Ma·trix 95 5.5.4 West Parthenia Street Matrix 97 5. 6 Overa.ll Land Use Impact 97 5. 7 Bu~-:;iness Activity in Northridge 99 6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMlVIE.I~DA.. TIONS 104 6.1 Observations: Decision-making Process Qualifies Conclusions 104 6 e 1 .1 Lack o£ Spatial Persnectives on Tra££ic Problems 104 6.1.2 Few Chz~nnels for C:r.:iticism cf Municipal Decisions 105 6 ~ 2 Reco·niruei1c1a t ions 1.09 6~3 Conclusions 111 6.3 .1 Grade Separation Need 111 6 ~ 3. 2 Tra££ic Imp:covements 112 6.3.3 f(ecovery of Business Distric·t 112 References Cited 11.7 App!?;ndix A 120 Appendix B 1::.~3 Appendix C 127 v 1 Photograph of the Reseda Boulevard Grade Sepa:r.·a tion 2 2 Dot Maps Showing Population G.r:owth in the San Fernando Valley: 1940 to 1960 9 3 f\·Iaster Plan of High'Nays and Free1'r2,ys in the San Fernando Valley 13 4 Map of the San Fernando Valley l ... ocatir1g Grad~<:-: Sei)C~.r<:ttj_ons ar1d Gra(Je Crossings on the Southern Pacific Coastal Rail Line 17 5 Street layout at Grade Crossing Site "Before, During and After Cc:nbtruction of ·the Underpass 24 6. Traffic Accidents on Res?da Boulevard Be£ o:c 2) Du:cing E\:cd After Unde:r:pa.ss Construction 43 7 61 8 Busin.:-~.ss Area L1 NoTthridge Purcb.ased £or Underpc:tss Const:cuction 83 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Chronology of Events Leading to the Completion of the Reseda-Parthenia. Grade Separation 6 2 Street Classification Inventory of the San Fernando Valley 15 . 3 Master Plan Highways: Suilllna:ry of Deficient Highway Improvements 15 4 Rate of Population Increase in North- ridge and in the San Fernando Valley 26 · 5 City o.f Los Angeles Graph Showing Correspondence Between Vehicular Traffic Flow and Crossing Gate Activities 29 6 Northridge Coalition Sampling of Rail- road Activities Across the Grade Crossing 29 7 The City's Estimated Cost of The Reseda Boulevard Grade Separation 34 8 The Northridge Coalition Proposal for Allocation of Grade Separation F'unds 9 Traffic Counts in Northridge: 1961 to 1969 45- .10 Land Use Classification Syst;em Employed in Study Area 64 11 Types, Groups and Conformations of Businesses by B:cian J. L. Berry 66. 12 Building Valuation in Northridge: 1956 ·to 1967 71 13 Number:· of Establishments, By Business Category, in Northr:idge; 1960, 1965 and 1970 75 14--17 Transition Hatl~ices Showing Land Use Changes in the Northridge Study Area Between 1960 and 1970 92 vii ABSTI&'\.CT THE GE.OGRAPHICJ\L Il\'IPLICATIONS OF A R~ILROAD GRADE SEPAR~TION IN NORTHI-UDGE, CALIFORNIA by Scott Harrison Williams Master of Arts in Geography August, 1970 A double underpass replaced a railway grade crossing on the Southern Pacific rail line in Northridge, California in 1966-1967 to alleviate auto-rail conflict. This thesis examines the consequences o£ such construction upon the Northridge business district, with special attention given to the arguments o:f a coalition o:f No1~thrid9e busin.:o;ssr.wn at hec:t.rings befo.ce the California Publi_c Utilities thc\t ad-· ditional grade crossings slw1.1ld be bui1t nearby before t:his 9r ade separation, and that this proposed scpar2:tion v.;cn;_ld prove detrimental to the adjacent business district. Traffic st;:~tistics show that the underpass iV3.s needed} and that vehicula.r traffic condi i:ions stcrrm:dng :f:rom auto- rail conflict at the crossing were.improved. Recon~;truc" tion of land use in Northridge before and after S·eparation, and intervievv:.Lng of J.oca1 businessmen a.nd City and Cow- mission officials, shows that construction accelerated v:iii. on-going land use trends and only slightly affected business activity. Finally, legal and bureaucratic obstasles preventrid the local coalition from effectively criticizing the C~ty's se?aration proposal because: (1) the City's coimnunity representative was not responsive to local opposition; . (2) the coalition could not compete with the City's techniC"al and professional rc::sources _; (3) the Cmnmission' s authority over the situation precluded consideration of alternate ,t~ proposals, and {4) the California State Street and Highway Code made it difficult for City officials to evaluate ·the issues objectively for financial reasons. ix INTRODUCTION This thesis exannn~~s the relationship between traffic and land use; more specifically the degree of change 1n traffic flow characteristics effected by a road network al te~cation, and how both these changes affected the spai~ia1 distribution of land use adjacent to the alteration. Also~ it is concerned with the ability of public officials to m2J~e decisions on tra.nsportation issues in full considerct- tion of the spa.tial inter-·relu..tionship bcJ.twecn road net-· work, traSfic flow, and land use changes. Between Decerrber 1965 and .July 1967 the Depcu:·tment of Enginc.;c.::r3JJ.fJ of th~::: City o::E Los AngE;les sub3t.i1:uted .ct r.::dl- crossing on the Southern Pacific Crn~any 1 s main coastal rail line in Northridge; CaJifornia (?igure 1). Two streets were affected: Reseda Bo~levard, the major north-south artE;ry and commerc.:i'_a.J business tho:r·ougb.fare in town, alo119 which buildings spread out in strip-like fashion; and F·e:n:thcnia StJ::-ect, a. minor: ee:'.-st-west thorou~{hJ"o.:ce which 1 3 the Southe1~n Pacific right of way. The project turned the level crossing on Reseda Boulevard into a two bridge com- plex; Reseda and Parthenia, which had intersected the Boulevard immediately to the north and south o£ the cross­ ing in dog-leg :fashion, subsequently descended below the railroad right of way thro-u.gh separate bridge structure~;. Construction simultane6usly involved the straightening out of Parth.enia, enabling it to intersect with Reseda at just one ·location immediately to the south of the R•2seda.