Burbank City Council, LA Metro to work together on bus route plans
After an hourslong city council meeting that dragged into the morning light, the Burbank City Council agreed to work with LA Metro on a plan to possibly bring a Bus Rapid Transit project to the city.
“The Burbank City Council unanimously agreed to enter a Cooperative Agreement with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) for the design and construction of the North Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Corridor Project,” the city announced Wednesday.
The vote advances the public transportation project, which has proven to be controversial due to required modifications on a busy surface street.
Plans for the LA Metro project indicated that Olive Avenue, which currently utilizes two lanes of vehicle traffic on both sides of the road, would need retooling to accommodate new dedicated bus lanes.
Some residents claim that having dedicated bus lanes in a vital corridor through Burbank will only lead to further traffic congestion, a position that Metro disagreed with.
The transit organization, which has previously conducted its own traffic studies and said it didn’t believe the reduced vehicle lanes would have a dramatic impact on traffic along Olive Avenue. It countered that it would instead remove vehicles from the road by making public transportation more convenient in an area with sparse coverage.
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Vision Burbank, a political action group comprised of city residents who oppose the plan, have urged for the buses to move on Olive Avenue in “mixed-flow” lanes alongside other vehicles.
With Tuesday night’s vote, the City Council agreed to work with Metro to determine the best possible solution for Olive Avenue, but reaffirmed its 2022 position of supporting mixed-flow lanes.
The City Council also voted in favor of refraining from “including specific project description language in the agreement to further continued discussion with Metro and the city in an effort to reach a consensus on outstanding project issues,” a news release said.
A subcommittee comprised of two council members was also established to be the main point of contact with Metro on behalf of the city.
Metro has said that the bus rapid transit line would better connect the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys with service to North Hollywood, Burbank, Glendale, Eagle Rock and Pasadena.
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Still, city residents on the fence about the project will be given an opportunity to voice their concerns.
As part of the approval, Metro has agreed to “conduct ongoing public outreach and hold community meetings as it continues to develop the final design and construct the project,” according to a news release.
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