By Ann K. Williams
Lookout Staff

February 3, 2011 – In a move that angered proponents of alternative transportation, Los Angeles Councilmember Bill Rosendahl shortened the reach of proposed bus-only lanes on Wilshire Boulevard, stopping them from running through a good portion of his district.

Rosendahl then blamed the cities of Santa Monica and Beverly Hills for preventing the lanes from stretching from the ocean to downtown Los Angeles during an L.A. City Council meeting Wednesday.

Under his original plan, bus-only lanes would have run along Wilshire Boulevard from MacArthur Park to Centinela Avenue – Santa Monica's eastern border – during rush hours.

But Wednesday, Rosendahl proposed the City of Los Angeles study a plan in which the lanes end in Beverly Hills, calling the truncated route “phase one.”

Rosendahl was emphatic that he's not giving up on his vision for a contiguous 15-mile bus-only route “from the ocean to downtown.”

“I'm never going to be happy until we have a complete lane,” he said.

Rosendahl then called out the cities of Santa Monica and Beverly Hills, saying they were the biggest obstacles to his vision, although his proposed route reduction mostly eliminated stretches of Wilshire within his district.

“The City of Santa Monica creates all my gridlock...and they don't even want to participate,” Rosendahl said. “Beverly Hills doesn't want to play either.

“I do want to get Santa Monica... to play with us, work with us and cooperate with us,” he said.

Councilmember Richard Alarcon echoed the challenge, saying the bus lanes are there to support working class familes in his district, and “Santa Monica and Beverly Hills will have to concede at some point.” Having said that, he opposed Rosendahl's proposal.

And Councilmember Ed Reyes invited the Mayors of Santa Monica and Beverly Hills to work with the city of Los Angeles on a study of the entire route passing through Santa Monica all the way to downtown L.A.

Ultimately, the L.A. City Council approved an amended proposal calling on the city to study and compare various routes by a vote of eleven to two.

At least one Santa Monica city leader is open to at least looking at all the options.

Dedicated bus lanes may not make sense within Santa Monica's borders, City Councilmember and MTA Board Member Pam O'Connor told the Lookout Wednesday.

“But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be studied,” O'Connor said. “I'm not saying it shouldn't go through, but the reality is we are the end of the line.”

And that means fewer passengers, less traffic and less density than the stretches of Wilshire lined with highrises east of Santa Monica, she said.

O'Connor is a supporter of the original plan, the one that would start at the eastern border of Santa Monica. “We need to be bold enough in the region to try projects like this,” she said.

Opponents of shortening the route blame Rosendahl for caving in to community members who lobbied against the bus lanes in their neighborhoods.

“The great elected officials are saying, let's not solve the problem,” said Bart Reed, director of the Transit Coalition.

The problem is there are more drivers than street capacity, Reed said. Rosendahl's move “derails the chance” of having a working alternative transportation system in the westside. “You cut out a heart in the middle,” he said.

And a bus-riding resident of downtown Los Angeles addressed the L.A. City Council, calling Rosendahl's proposal “shameful,” and adding that she's disappointed that “the needs of a small minority of residents in the Westside would actually trump” the needs of people like her.

“Cutting out the westside is not a way to encourage the City of Santa Monica and Beverly Hills to cooperate,” said another. “It just lets those cities off the hook.”

Six years ago, Los Angeles Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky asked regional officials to designate a bus-only lane beginning in Santa Monica. Yaroslavsky Asks for Bus Lane, February 2, 2005

The bus lane would be in effect during peak hours, running from Santa Monica to Downtown Los Angeles, said Yaroslavsky, noting that “it’s going to be a long time before there ever is a Wilshire Boulevard subway.”

We can’t wait for “something that takes 25 years to build,” he said.

But Santa Monica officials didn't take Yaroslavsky up on his appeal.

“To see our challenge, look at the change in skyline along Wilshire Boulevard from Santa Monica and West L.A.” McKeown said after the meeting at which Yaroslavsky floated his idea.

“They’ve already redeveloped with high rises and underground parking,” he said. “Our small local businesses rely on street parking, and we don’t want to tear down those buildings just to get buses.”

The dedicated bus lane would likely be a short-term solution to the Westside’s traffic woes, Santa Monica officials said then.