In a victory for anti-bus lane Westwood condo owners but to the chagrin of transit supporters, the Federal Transit Administration told Metro that they can omit a one-mile portion of their planned bus-only rush-hour lane on Wilshire, between Comstock and Selby, without losing a $23-million FTA grant for the project, The Source indicates. The issue will be formalized on Thursday at the Metro board meeting with the Comstock/Selby portion likely dropped--members of the board's planning committee including Richard Katz and County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky already agreed with the homeowners that the bus lane would complicate cars entering/exiting the condo towers and back-up traffic on that section of Wilshire; they wanted to see if Metro could still get the FTA bucks without the Comstock/Selby portion (which, as stated, the FTA said they can).
Back story: planned for 8.7 miles through the city of LA (not Beverly Hills), the rush hour bus lane will mostly travel in the street parking lane. But for the disputed Condo Canyon portion, Metro staff (different from the planning committee, which includes politicians like Yaroslavsky) recommended keeping the parking lane intact and having the bus lane in the furthest right lane of Wilshire, which has three lanes in each direction in this stretch. The homeowners conducted their own traffic study, which said that wouldn't work either, which as stated above, the planning committee--or at least members of--agreed with.
· FTA Gives Go-Ahead to Drop Condo Canyon Section From Bus Project [Source]
· Wilshire Bus Lane Battle on Horizon? [Curbed LA]
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