A New Twist for Bus Rapid Transit Controversy in Northeast Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Editorial Board has picked a side in the ongoing controversy regarding a planned bus rapid transit (BRT) route that would connect the Los Angeles neighborhood of North Hollywood to the city of Pasadena, passing through the city of Glendale and the Los Angeles neighborhood of Eagle Rock along the way.

From the earliest conceptions of the planned BRT route, the local residents in Eagle Rock have pushed back on a potential route alignment that would create a bus only lane in the center median of the neighborhood's main drag of Colorado Boulevard. Some local residents advocated hard for the alignment to run down the center of nearby State Route 134.

According to the Editorial Board, compromises included in project's draft environmental impact report (EIR), published last fall, caused disappointment among transit advocates. To avoid taking a traffic lane for the creation of the bus lane, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) proposed the removal of elements like landscaped medians, curbside parking, and bike lanes—elements that could be used to slow car traffic and support businesses along the corridor.

Disappointment with the EIR inspired a group of residents to create the Beautiful Boulevard plan as a response. Metro included some of those recommendations in a new route option proposed to the Metro Board of Directors this month, and that's where the newest round of controversy begins.

As reported by Joe Linton, newly appointed City Councilmember Kevin de León (appointed to replace Jose Huizar, who has been charged of federal corruption crimes) put out a statement supporting the previous alignment, which would maintain the current number of automobile lanes on Colorado Boulevard.

"Last week, the council member released a statement asking Metro to come up with another option that maintained two lanes of traffic in each direction and bike lanes, while attempting to restore medians and curb extensions," according to the editorial. "He also called for more in-person public hearings before Metro chose an option for Colorado Boulevard."

The editorial board calls out Councilmember de León's opposition as another example of politicians unable to walk the walk when it comes to climate action. "There’s a long history of L.A. leaders proclaiming their climate leadership only to abandon climate-minded street design at the first cries of opposition." A lot of people not in Los Angeles have probably seen similar behavior from politicians in their cities too.

Since de León shook up the transit planning debate in Los Angeles and inspired the Los Angeles Times editorial board's criticisms, the Metro board Planning and Programming Committee took a small step forward with the latest version of the plan anyway.

"The committee approved overall project refinements (staff report, presentation), but did not finalize which alternative would take the project through Eagle Rock. The committee action still needs to be approved by the full Metro board next week," reports Linton in a separate, follow up article. The forthcoming decision on the EIR is expected to settle the matter of the lane configuration of Colorado Boulevard, explains Linton in the most recent article.