When Los Angeles residents voted last year to execute the city’s nearly decade-old mobility plan, transportation safety advocates called it a victory for Los Angeles pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. The sidewalks will improve, traffic congestion will slow down, and bike and bus lanes will be upgraded and built.
But HLA's scope – a citywide initiative that follows measures adopted by LA City Council in 2015, the center of recent debate between advocates and the subway, after the company's transportation agency had to anticipate plans for a new bike lane.
Transit advocates believe that the exclusion of the Vermont Street project ignores voters’ mission to follow a mobile plan, which calls for improved bike lanes on that street. Metro and city officials countered that the measure only applies to the city of Los Angeles, not county-wide transportation agencies.
“We think it’s illegal,” said Michael Schneider, who is the neighborhood for everyone, the advocacy group behind the voting measures. “HLA is a city measure, the Metro is a county agency, but Vermont is owned by the City of Los Angeles, which is working with Metro. They allow it, they provide technical expertise, they spend time and money on staff time and money. This belongs to the HLA, which requires a bike to be in the bike lane in Vermont.”
Last week, the agency’s board of directors voted to approve plans for the Vermont Transit Corridor — the project will add dedicated bus lanes and 26 stops at 13 locations, extending along 13 locations at 12.4 miles on Vermont Avenue between 120 Vermont Avenue and Sunset Avenue. According to Metro, the route can see 38,000 bus boarding passes, which are expected to increase to 66,000 by 2045.
According to Metro, the project is expected to improve transit access and a large number of residents in vulnerable communities, considered black, indigenous and people of color. The corridor includes most low-income families, including residents who cannot use their cars.
The project is included in the M spending plan, which allocated $425 million in construction.
“Metro supports HLA’s goals and objectives, especially as we have worked with all local jurisdictions and will continue to work to provide better quality transportation and safer streets for all places in Los Angeles County,” the agency said in a statement. “However, HLA is not suitable for subway projects.”
The board’s vote did not include discussion, but ignored requests from public commentators who asked Metro to reconsider its plans to include upgraded bike lanes.
The project has been under study for nearly a decade. According to Metro, the new bike lanes will delay the project by up to five years, increasing costs and forcing the subway to acquire properties.
In a letter to Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins last month, Schneider objected to the subway’s claims and said that adding bike lanes would not cause delays or affect the property if parking is not prioritized on upgrades. He warned that plans without bicycle lanes would further damage the routes of cyclists and pedestrians. Vermont Avenue saw one of the highest pedestrian deaths and injuries in the city, according to Metro and everyone’s streets.
The subway has always maintained its position. Last month, in a letter to Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, subway lawyers said the agency would take legal action if the city forces the agency to comply with the measures HLA. Attorneys cite a letter sent to everyone in November, saying the agency does not need to comply with the measure, a point that has been reiterated at a February meeting of the Los Angeles City Transportation Commission.
Lawyers also noted that an agreement was reached between the city and the subway that recognized the agency's “autonomous authority.”
“this [agreement] The letter states that the subway project will not be transformed into a city project at all.
Schneider and others said the agency's plans dismissed residents' needs.
“We have epidemics of death and injury,” said Eli Lipmen, executive director of Transport Advocacy. “Some of it has to do with people driving and driving recklessly, but a lot of it has to do with the lack of good infrastructure.”
Lipmen said that if Metro doesn’t allow new protected bike lanes to be allowed in its plans and hopefully there is still time to talk, more people will be hurt.
“Vermont needs to happen, it needs to happen as soon as possible. We can't postpone the project any more,” Lipmen said.
The event is expected to be completed by the 2028 Olympics.
