Santa Monica Would Be Spared From Metro Bus Project

Wilshire Blvd. would lose some of its street parking to bus-only lanes if a Metropolitan Transportation Authority committee approves a staff recommendation Wednesday, but Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and a section of Westwood would be omitted from the plan.

Under the proposal, curbside parking would be converted to bus and right-turn only lanes during weekday rush hour (7 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m.) along 9.6 miles of the crosstown artery. The MTA also plans to repave and widen curb lanes to better handle buses, and modify traffic signals to favor buses.

Known as the “Bus Rapid Transit” project, the undertaking is set to cost about $31.5 million and would begin at Valencia St. (slightly west of the I-110 Freeway) and end at the Santa Monica city line at Centinela Ave.

Metro staffers say the express and local routes along Wilshire that would be affected by the project are the heaviest-used buses in Los Angeles County, with 80,000 boardings per weekday.

If the proposal passes, the bus lanes would parallel the planned Westside Subway Extension, which is slated to run primarily along Wilshire as an extension of Metro’s Purple Line. Under current construction plans, the subway would not be open until at least 2022.

This report was compiled with information from City News Service.

This article was originally published on Beverly Hills Patch.