Project aims to revamp Wilshire

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the county of Los Angeles and the city of Los Angeles hosted the first of a series of four community meetings on Wednesday designed to hear and incorporate community concerns regarding the potential implementation of the Wilshire Bus Rapid Transit Project.

The project will create bus-only lanes along Wilshire Boulevard.

The approximately $31.5 million project looks to reserve curbside lanes for buses during weekday peak rush hours on Wilshire Boulevard from Valencia Street to Centinela Avenue, excluding routes in the city of Beverly Hills.

The Federal Transit Administration, the city of Los Angeles and Metro are funding the project, said Marc Littman, a Metro spokesman.

“We are looking at ways to speed up our service,” he said.

As one of the busiest streets in Los Angeles, Wilshire Boulevard hosts buses that run every three minutes, Littman said.

Although there has been previous work on improving Metro transportation service, such as expanding green light signals and increasing bus length, the reserved bus lanes will improve bus travel by 24 percent, he said.

The bus-only lanes would operate in both directions of Wilshire Boulevard, allowing other vehicles to make right turns only. They would also be accessible for use to other vehicles during off-peak hours, said Rex Gephardt, director of planning at Metro.

“I’m very excited, but it’s shameful that it doesn’t go through Beverly Hills,” said fifth-year English student Tara Leederman, who commutes from Fullerton.

As a daily Metro Rapid passenger, Leederman said that her commute is still a lot cheaper than living in Los Angeles and parking at UCLA.

“As the student population is getting bigger, something needs to be done,” she added.

A customer of the rapid transit system also echoed this concern during the Wednesday meeting.

But Jody Litvak, a Metro spokeswoman, said the bus transportation assessment started in the city of Los Angeles.

She said the cities of Santa Monica and Beverly Hills have not yet voiced their interest.

“They are not excluded forever, but they are not included in this study,” she added.

Other concerns heard at the meeting included bicycle accessibility and parking impact. The questions and concerns are to be addressed in the study, Litvak said.

Gephardt said the creation of the bus lanes would require road improvements. Curb lanes would need repaving since much of Wilshire is damaged.

The removal of five feet of sidewalk between Federal and Barrington would widen the street and allow for the addition of an eastbound peak-period bus lane, he said.

Lastly, increasing traffic signal timing and bus signal priority would also be implemented.

The rapid transit system currently offers high-capacity buses, branded buses and stations and simple route arrangements, Gephardt said.

“One key idea that comes from bus-only lanes,” said Gephardt, “is that buses, hopefully, will be arriving at bus stops consistently everyday.”

“I think it’s going to cause more traffic,” said Hector Pañuelos, a first-year undeclared student.

Bus lanes may create heavy congestion among the automobile commuters because their access to the road will be limited, he said.

Pañuelos, along with first-year undeclared student Diana Gomez, commutes daily from East Los Angeles on the Metro Rapid 720 to Commerce.

Each trip takes approximately an hour and a half, Gomez said.

“It will also benefit people who don’t use (bus) transportation because it will get people off the road,” Littman said. One of the project’s goals is to encourage public transportation in order to reduce automobile usage.

The project, if approved, will be effective by 2011. However, the project is being reviewed through an Initial Study/Environmental Assessment.

This document will evaluate potential impacts on the community such as traffic and parking problems, air quality, noise, and historic and cultural resources, Gephardt said.

“If all goes well, we will be able to finalize the environmental work by next summer,” Littman said.