Wilshire Bus Rapid Transit Project
The environmental work for the Wilshire Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project is now complete and the project is moving forward towards implementation A Revised Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Assessment (FEIR/EA) was prepared jointly by Metro, the City of Los Angeles, and Los Angeles County It was approved by the Metro Board of Directors on May 26, 2011, by the Los Angeles City Council on June 14, 2011 and by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on July 5, 2011
On August 18, 2011, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), issuance of a FONSI by FTA is the final step to complete the environmental review of the project for NEPA.
The City of Los Angeles, together with Metro and the County of Los Angeles, is working to begin final design and construction of the Wilshire BRT project
Project Summary
The project spans approximately 12.5 miles along Wilshire Boulevard from Valenica Street on the east (slightly west of the I-110 Freeway) to the Santa Monica City Line at Centinela Avenue Of the 12.5 miles, improvements would occur on 9.9 miles of Wilshire Boulevard, including 7.7 miles of peak period curbside bus lanes In those segments of Wilshire Boulevard where there are no bus lanes, buses would continue to operate in mixed-flow traffic during peak periods The majority of the project falls within the City of Los Angeles (9.1 miles) It also includes a small portion, between Sepulveda Boulevard and Federal Avenue (approximately 0.8 miles, near the Veterans Administration facility), within Los Angeles County jurisdiction.
A number of general improvements will be implemented as part of the proposed project These include: restriping of traffic lanes, as necessary; conversion of existing curb lanes to peak period bus lanes in each direction; upgrade of the existing transit signal priority system; selective street widening; curb lane reconstruction/resurfacing in select areas; and installation of traffic/transit signage and pavement markings, as necessary
Most of the existing curb lanes in the City of Los Angeles would be “converted” to bus and right-turn only operation in the peak periods on weekdays (7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.) In these segments, the curb lanes will be repaired or reconstructed, where necessary, and all will be restriped and signed as peak period bus lanes In other areas, curbside bus lanes will be added as new lanes to Wilshire Boulevard by widening and restriping Bicycles will also be allowed in the bus lanes.
