Residents in Sherman Oaks say Metro has not been ambitious enough with its plans for a dedicated, 9.2-mile public transit line between the city of San Fernando in the north and the Orange Line to the south.

Members of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association, which touts itself as representing “2,300 politically active families,” suggested in a letter sent to Metro on Tuesday that the public transportation agency should seriously consider building a subway along the full-length of the proposed line, known as the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor project.

Draft study released for BRT or rail project between Van Nuys and Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink station. https://t.co/QqERUNN5Cq pic.twitter.com/t2bQNMo4Kr — Metro (@metrolosangeles) September 2, 2017

The association opposed Measure M, a sales tax hike approved last November that allocates $1.3 billion of proceeds from the increase toward the East Valley project.

Their group “strongly recommends that, if public-private or other funding becomes available for the ESFVTC (East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor) project, Metro immediately begin work on a better, faster, and less-intrusive ESFVTC total subway alternative,” wrote Bob Anderson, chair of the association’s transportation committee.

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With the exception of a possible 2.5-mile underground segment through Panorama City in one of the four options, the line now proposed by Metro would be traversed by either light rail cars or buses at surface-level.

All of the options for the East Valley project run mostly along busy Van Nuys Boulevard, through Pacoima, Panorama City, the Van Nuys Civic Center and other areas. Where the line would not not go through is Sherman Oaks.

But the Sherman Oaks Homeowner Association’s letter argues that decisions made about the East Valley line could limit the possibilities for a project that does affect their neighborhood. That project is the proposed Sepulveda Pass Corridor, which would connect the Orange Line in the Valley to the Purple Line in West Los Angeles.

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And it is important for the association that whatever option is chosen for the East Valley would still allow the Sepulveda Pass Corridor to be a “subway,” and the two should not be considered by Metro in isolation, according to Anderson.

“The most important project in our opinion to the Valley … is the Sepulveda Pass Corridor,” he added.

Metro is expected to begin a feasibility study on the Sepulveda project soon. For Anderson and others in the association, they are set on having a subway, or something that would not increase traffic in their neighborhood.

“The one thing we will fight for is making sure it’s below ground as a subway or maybe even above ground, if that’s a viable option,” Anderson said.

Traffic is “unbearable” along Sepulveda and Ventura boulevards right now, he said.

But Anderson said he is skeptical that a surface-level light rail line in the East Valley could then connect to a subway in their area without the rider needing a transfer.

He said it would be “wonderful” if someone is able to get onto a subway train in Sylmar and travel down to Los Angeles International Airport, without needing to transfer cars.

Other major players in the Valley, however, were not keen on the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association’s idea for a full-length subway, especially since with the funding unavailable, that option would delay the project.

The Valley Industry and Commerce Association supports a completely surface-level, 14-station light rail option for the project, said Coby King, who lobbied on behalf of the business chamber to include local projects in Measure M and to get that initiative passed in the Valley.

VICA and others worked to get Metro to allocate funding from Measure M to go toward three projects in the Valley, including the $1.3 billion for the East Valley line, even though there was “resistance” and that pushed them over the initial budget from Metro, according to King.

“Valley voters voted by a 2/3 majority, for the first time, (to approve Measure M) in part because they felt that the Valley was getting a good deal,” King said.

Now there is the expectation that the East Valley line, which is scheduled to happen first, gets completed on schedule, King said.

“Metro has looked at the numbers, and they’ve very clearly said that given the available funds, this is the way we can build it now,” King said. “And VICA’s view and my view is that we want it built now. And if the way to get it built now as a light rail, is to do it as a surface route, so that’s what we should do.”

The Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association, which opposed Measure M, is “a little late to the table as far as I’m concerned” in advocating for what they want built on the East Valley line, he said.

Transportation officials are hoping to narrow the options down to just one by next summer, and to begin construction by 2021, with the hope of getting the line completed by between 2027 and 2029.

King also noted that the “East San Fernando line was particularly important to us because we knew that it would complement the Orange Line’s … east-west line with the north-south spine (on Van Nuys Boulevard), and it would also serve the most transit dependent population in the San Fernando Valley.”

The two other projects earmarked to receive funding in Measure M are the Sepulveda Pass Project, as well as the initial improvements to the Orange Line, followed by a conversion to a light rail line far into the future.

The Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association’s letter is expected to be among many submitted to Metro officials as they take formal feedback on their study of the environmental impacts of the East Valley Transit Corridor project. The last day to review their draft findings and to make comments is Oct. 16.

Two of the four options that have been studied employ bus-rapid transit, and the other two rely on light-rail, varying in terms of the number of stations. A line that is completely underground has not yet been studied.

David Mieger, Metro’s executive officer of transit corridor planning, said that the Sherman Oaks residents’ concerns about their own area’s project can still be addressed, despite any decisions made about the East Valley line.

“The Van Nuys line could connect directly into the Sepulveda corridor,” he assured, adding the options the association hopes to have available for the Sepulveda Pass Corridor project “are still on the table.”

He said that there are ways to have a surface-level light-rail line in the East Valley that can then connect directly to a potentially underground line for the Sepulveda Pass line that would go through Sherman Oaks.

He pointed to the regional-connector project in downtown Los Angeles as an example of a “light-rail line that is going to run in a subway,” as well as other similar lines with light-railthat run on the surface and on aerial tracks.

“That’s why we’re having the process right now to try to understand people’s concerns and respond to them,” he said. “We appreciate SOHA’s comments and we look forward to working with them, and working with them on the questions.”