With the city of Burbank and LA Metro in a stalemate, the two sides said they will work around the disputed segment of the board-approved North Hollywood-to-Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit Project, the two announced on Friday, Sept. 4.
LA Metro sued Burbank after the city said it would not grant permits for changing one lane each way on Olive Avenue between Buena Vista and Lake street to bus-only, as laid out by the project final design. Burbank wants the lanes to remain as mixed-use lanes for all vehicles.
On Thursday, Sept. 3, the two sides agreed in court that the project construction, which started in May, would proceed in the undisputed segments in Burbank. Construction of bus stations, roadway improvements, signalization, street lighting and landscaping could continue. So would median-running dedicated lanes on Glenoaks Boulevard, LA Metro stated in a written response.
But the city would not grant permits for re-striping dedicated bus lanes on Olive Avenue.
In the past, some Burbank residents and business owners on Olive said the road diet for cars would lead to more congestion, even though the BRT would move freely without impediments. The lane designation could also cause drivers to take shortcuts through smaller, residential streets, often directed by GIS aps.
“The city’s position remains unchanged, and the (City) Council continues to support mixed-flow operations on Olive Avenue,” the city stated in a terse response. Attorneys for the city, nor any other city officials, would discuss the case.
A court conference on case management, which could set a future trial date, takes place on Oct. 5, said Ronald Stamm, an attorney for LA Metro, on Friday.
Despite the court in July denying Metro’s request for an injunction to sweep away Burbank’s stand, the court must still decide on the merits of Burbank’s objection to the bus-only lanes on Olive Avenue. That could take months or even more than a year, Stamm said.
“I can’t tell you when this will be over,” he added.
The 19-mile BRT project is a specialized bus service running mostly on bus-only lanes from North Hollywood’s B/G Line Station in the city of Los Angeles, eastward through the cities of Burbank, Glendale, L.A., again in Eagle Rock, and Pasadena.
Buses would be electric-powered with on-board batteries and equipped to control traffic signals when necessary for faster rides, Metro reported last year. Getting on and off the bus would take place at all doors, not just the front door.
Burbank has demanded that LA Metro keep Olive Avenue all mixed-flow lanes, while LA Metro says in its lawsuit filed in May that such changes to the project will slow down transit service and are unauthorized since the contracts are signed and construction has begun.
“Dedicated bus lanes enable the faster, more reliable service that distinguishes BRT from conventional bus operations and that justified voter funding. The City is now attempting to use its review and permitting role to force their removal,” the lawsuit said.
Without immediate relief from the court, LA Metro’s lawsuit against Burbank says delaying the project in Burbank could mean delaying completion of one of its “Twenty-eight by ’28” Olympic and Paralympic games projects.
Whether or when construction can continue on the disputed portion of the 19-mile bus rapid transit corridor connecting the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys, two of L.A. County’s most populous subregions, remains in the hands of the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Metro says continuation of the lawsuit without a ruling in its favor jeopardizes a project planned for more than 10 years. It was authorized by L.A. County voters when they approved the half-cent sales tax of Measure M in 2016 with over 71% support. The ballot measure dedicated $267 million of local sales tax revenues to the Project.
But both sides did not say if waiting for a ruling on the disputed segment, while agreeing to continue construction everywhere else, would delay completion of the project.
Stamm said construction will continue in all the other streets of Burbank, as well as in Glendale, Pasadena, Eagle Rock and North Hollywood, which are not in dispute.
“Metro continues its endeavors to complete the project with dedicated lanes as set forth in the Final Environmental Impact Report, in order to fulfill the project’s full potential speed and reliability,” concluded LA Metro’s statement.
Construction started in May in Pasadena, with construction ongoing for several months on Arroyo Seco Parkway, Colorado Boulevard, Lake Avenue and more recently, on Hill Street near the eastern terminus at Pasadena City College.
“We are continuing construction in the other cities,” Stamm said. Construction on Olive Avenue is the last step of the construction project, he said.
“The project offers a sustainable east-west connection to jobs, schools and services across both valley,” the LA Metro statement said.