Council Moves Forward with EIR for Wilshire Boulevard (Source: Streetsblog Los Angeles)

Link: Streetsblog Los Angeles » Council Moves Forward with EIR for Wilshire Boulevard

Council Moves Forward with EIR for Wilshire Boulevard

by Joe Linton on September 10, 2009

Bus lane free. Photo: LA Wad/Flickr

Yesterday's full Los Angeles City Council meeting ran extraordinarily late due to a potential lawsuit between the Controller and the City Attorney. The council's Transportation Committee meeting, previewed last week here and here, was scheduled for 2:00 P.M. but didn't begin until after 4:30 P.M. By then, most of the Department of Transportation (LADOT) staff had left. Remaining were a little more than half of the initial 30+ yellow-t-shirt clad Bus Riders Union members, a half-dozen Comstock Hills homeowners, and a couple of bicyclists.

Committee Chair Bill Rosendahl apologized profusely for the delay, and, with fellow committee members Alarcón, Koretz and LaBonge in attendance, immediately launched into the most contentious agenda item: the LADOT's recommendation that the city move forward with full environmental review of the federally-funded peak hour bus-only lanes on Wilshire Boulevard.

Paul Koretz is the newly elected Council Member representing the city's 5th district, which includes the Comstock Hills, aka the "condo canyon," stretch of Wilshire between Beverly Hills and UCLA. The bulk of the opposition to the bus-only lane project has come from this area. Among the committee, Koretz was the most openly skeptical of the project - asking a number of questions, including if the project is a "disaster" could it be removed? LADOT staff responded that they "didn't want to go there" and reassured Koretz that their calculations showed a very modest impact on traffic. DOT stated that estimates show a 3-5 minute delay for cars driving the entire corridor, with a corresponding 24% reduction in the time it takes for a bus to go the same length. Koretz ultimately moved the motion to fund the environmental study at Rosendahl's suggestion.

Council Member LaBonge questioned whether the route could go to other high-volume destination centers like Century City; LADOT countered that Wilshire itself is a destination-rich corridor, indeed "the number one bus line in the United States."

Four Bus Riders Union speakers testified in support of the project and the important precedent it will set. Speakers representing the Green L.A. Transportation Working Group and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition also spoke in favor. Homeowners expressed their displeasure at the planned bus lanes which they stated would be "dangerous" for residents getting into and out of driveways, and negatively impact trash trucks, mail delivery, ambulances, and fire engines.

Rosendahl diplomatically thanked speakers for raising important issues and suggested that the full Environmental Impact Report (EIR) process would be where all these benefits and costs can get full public airing. The committee unanimously approved the motion for the project EIR to proceed, including directing LADOT to report back in 90 days. The motion (08-2595-S1) will now be scheduled for a vote of the full city council.

Running very late, the committee then spent less than three minutes approving LADOT's proposed contract for ShelterCLEAN to maintain the Orange Line Bike Path (09-2120) and continued the rest of the agenda to future meetings.

(Editor's Note: Linton is Chair of the Green L.A. Transportation Working Group and is an unabashed supporter of the Wilshire Bus-Only Lanes project.)