News

A coalition of over 40 Eagle Rock residents, parents, business owners, and community leaders has generated a thoughtful solution to Metro’s North Hollywood-Pasadena BRT project. The zone-based, context sensitive solution is posted at www.eaglerockforward.org and has won widespread support, including visionary elected leaders Hilda Solis and Jackie Goldberg.

Unlike Metro’s problematic proposals for Eagle Rock to eliminate medians, bike lanes, and curbside parking, the Beautiful Boulevard proposal preserves each of these important features with a green and sustainable solution that would make Metro’s new transit line a once in a lifetime investment in a more vibrant, walkable, and family-friendly Downtown Eagle Rock. This is a new plan for making new transit service work for our community developed for Eagle Rockers by Eagle Rockers.

Zone 1 – near Eagle Rock Plaza:

Zone 2 – Downtown Eagle Rock:

Zone 3 – near 134 Freeway Onramp:

Eagle Rockers shouldn’t have to decide between quality transit and safe streets, and the Beautiful Boulevard proposal provides an incredible solution for high quality transit for Eagle Rock. Equitable Eagle Rock fully supports the Beautiful Boulevard.

You can help make this beautiful street concept a reality!

Go to www.eaglerockforward.org/take-action to add your name to the petition and tell our elected leaders to bring the Beautiful Boulevard to Eagle Rock!

Metro will host two virtual public hearings in November to review its Draft Environmental Impact Report that calls for the elimination of bike lanes on Colorado Boulevard. Attend these meetings to demand that Metro provide a project in line with the Eagle Rock community’s vision for a safe, healthy, vibrant, and sustainable street.

Metro is set to present options for its North Hollywood-Pasadena BRT project to the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council (ERNC) on Tuesday, September 1 at 7pm. Metro’s presentation is agenda item “III.G.”

ERNC Board Meeting 9/1 Agenda: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RgbCsG6e1fupIhNyzXJ3rI4lek_EPtcs/view

Meeting Zoom Login: https://zoom.us/j/91626372513

Webinar ID: 916 2637 2513

Please attend this virtual meeting to demand that Metro consider equitable and sustainable options that improve safety on Colorado Boulevard.

Following Metro’s decision to re-introduce the previously rejected 134 Freeway alignment as part of the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the proposed North Hollywood-Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line, Equitable Eagle Rock calls on the Metro Board of Directors to base its final alignment decisions on the evidence gathered in the DEIR that best meets the project’s goals and best serves Metro riders.

With the return of this “Zombie Option,” Eagle Rock once again remains at risk of being left out of this vital transit link. It is unfortunate that a vocal misinformation campaign waged by opponents was sufficient for the Metro Board to override the evidence gathered in the Alternatives Analysis, but we expect the DEIR will show definitively why the Colorado Boulevard alignment is a more equitable and environmentally superior option. Additional study should finally put this Zombie Option to rest. However, it only has the capacity to do that if the Metro Board of Directors commits to basing their final decisions on the evidence, not on political pressure from a small segment of the population that does not agree with goals for higher quality transit widely supported by Los Angeles voters and the Metro Board.  

The benefits of a Colorado Boulevard alignment for the people of Eagle Rock and all who travel along the corridor are clear. A street-running BRT will:

• Improve the quality of life for those who rely on public transit, who are often the most marginalized members of our community
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions 
• Provide greater access to dependable and quick public transit
• Make “downtown” Eagle Rock a more accessible and attractive destination
• Create a safer street that benefits all people regardless of their preferred mode of travel

As Metro prepares the DEIR, we expect to see proposed designs that work creatively to meet the needs of our community. With thoughtful design, we believe the implementation of dedicated bus lanes should complement existing neighborhood character and accommodate community-driven enhancements that make Eagle Rock a great place to live, work, shop, study, and play. Equitable Eagle Rock maintains that the following project design elements are essential to the success of BRT:

• Incorporating the vision of existing community streetscape projects currently underway such as Take Back The Boulevard and Rock The Boulevard
• Preserving and improving existing medians, though likely in modified form with more drought tolerant landscaping 
• Maintaining and incorporating medians planned west of Eagle Rock Boulevard as part of the Take Back The Boulevard Initiative
• Adding protected bike lanes
• Replacing any removed trees at an 8:1 ratio for a fully shaded streetscape
• Designing a street that provides dignified means of getting around for all regardless of their transportation choices, age, abilities, or socio-economic status
• Sharing resources and assistance to protect residents and businesses from displacement
• Supporting small businesses, old and new, through construction
• Fostering a unique ‘Main Street’ feel 

While the Zombie Option is now part of the DEIR, the best way to put it to rest is by advocating the best possible vision for Colorado Boulevard. Metro will hold five interactive community workshops soliciting ideas about how to implement the BRT project; three sessions focused on Colorado Boulevard will be held in Eagle Rock. 

Mark your calendars and join us at any of the three workshop sessions at Yosemite Recreation Center, 1840 Yosemite Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90041 on November 16. Workshops will be held from 9am-10:30am; 11:30am-1pm; 2pm-3:30pm. The location is directly served by Metro Local 181 (stop: Yosemite/La Roda) and a 6 minute walk from LADOT DASH service along Townsend Ave. Info on additional November Metro meetings is listed on our “Get Involved” page.

Please head to Metro’s project page to register

On October 26, Equitable Eagle Rock celebrates 6 years of bike lanes on Colorado Boulevard in the heart of Eagle Rock! Join us and other neighbors for a casual bike ride followed by lunch nearby. We’ll discuss safe streets and share ideas to make Northeast LA a more bikeable and walkable place.

Meet: 10am, Saturday 10/26 at the Colorado Blvd bike corral (2144 Colorado Blvd).

Find the event on Facebook

For a look back:

L.A. Times: “Eagle Rock remade for cyclists — and slower traffic”

Patch “Community Celebrates Bike Lanes on Colorado Boulevard”

If one believes the claims of Bus Rapid Transit opponents, BRT has a tremendous power to “automatically” up-zone entire corridors and bring massive new “six-story” canyons of towering development to L.A. neighborhoods. Their rhetoric is, of course, overblown. The truth is that current “automatic up-zoning” is very limited and very targeted.

The primary program under fire here is the city of Los Angeles’ Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) Affordable Housing Incentive Program. (Technically, TOC incentives are discretionary bonuses – semantically not what planners would term an up-zone – but for this article SBLA will go with the vernacular and call these bonuses an up-zone.) TOC was approved by a majority of city voters in 2016. The program has been effective in greenlighting 4,000 new homes. TOC is now receiving criticism from various homeowner interests, and is the subject of a questionable Fix the City lawsuit that seeks to halt the program.

Read Streetsblog LA’s detailed explanation of how BRT has limited-to-no impact on the density and height of buildings along BRT routes HERE

The North Hollywood to Pasadena corridor connects the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys and is home to approximately 800,000 people and 400,000 jobs. This area includes major job centers, bedroom communities and many colleges and cultural opportunities.

But there’s one big thing lacking: a great transit connection for those traveling between the Valleys. Metro has exactly one bus line traveling between Old Pasadena and North Hollywood, but it mostly sticks to the 134 freeway and misses many neighborhoods and destinations along the way.

This is why Metro is working to build a bus rapid transit (BRT) line to serve North Hollywood, Burbank, Glendale, Eagle Rock and Pasadena. BRT is a type of bus line that is faster, more frequent and more reliable by using features that could include traffic signal prioritization, all-door boarding, upgraded bus stations and dedicated bus lanes.

Read Metro CEO Phil Washington’s op-ed at Pasadena News Now making the case for communities and job centers connected by quality transit HERE

Last night Metro hosted an open house meeting on the planned North Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit project. The meeting took place at Samuelson Pavilion on the campus of Occidental College in Eagle Rock. Last night’s meeting was pretty civil.

Read Streetsblog L.A.’s report on the August 7th Metro scoping meeting for North Hollywood-Pasadena BRT at Eagle Rock Plaza HERE

Read more HERE and RSVP here: http://bit.ly/teracb

Metro has announced an additional community open house in Eagle Rock on August 7, 2019, between 5:30 – 8:00 pm.

Meeting Details:
Wednesday, August 7, 5:30-8:00 pm
Occidental College, Samuelson Campus Pavilion
1600 Campus Rd, Los Angeles, 90041

Public transit options include: Metro Bus Lines 28, 83, 181, DASH Highland Park/Eagle Rock. Free parking is available at the location.

Read more and find full meeting info HERE