By Bill Hendrickson
County Supervisor Solis to Attend Next Community Meeting.
The next public meeting with Metro on its plan for bus rapid transit (BRT) on Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock will be on Wednesday, August 7, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Samuelson Pavilion at Occidental College.
The meeting is the first of two additional meetings called for by Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis, who represents Eagle Rock and is a Metro Board Member. Solis will attend the meeting to listen to and speak with her constituents, said her spokesperson in response to questions from the Boulevard Sentinel.
Planned as an open house, the meeting will not have a set presentation or schedule, according to a Metro spokesperson. Rather, there will be stations where people can view maps and other information on the BRT and ask questions of Metro staff. Attendees who wish to submit a comment for the record will be able to do so.
The meeting is coming together amid a contentious debate.
To recap: As part of a plan for an 18-mile BRT connecting North Hollywood and Pasadena, Metro is embarking on an environmental impact review of a route that calls for running the BRT on Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock with stops near the mall and at Eagle Rock Boulevard and Townsend Avenue.
That proposed route has roiled the town.
One side opposes potential street reconfigurations and zoning changes that the BRT on Colorado Boulevard could cause.
One side says that a BRT on Colorado Boulevard would be better for the future quality of life in Eagle Rock.
The logical way forward would seem to be to study both routes in the upcoming environmental review.
But at a meeting on June 18 hosted by the Land Use Committee of the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council at the Eagle Rock City Hall, a Metro representative said that a route along the 134 Freeway in Eagle Rock was not on the table. The statement stunned the audience, most of whom indicated by their comments and a show of hands that they favored a route on the 134 Freeway.
At a meeting on July 13 hosted by Metro at the Eagle Rock Plaza, opinions expressed by those who commented publicly were more evenly divided, with 30 people saying they wanted the BRT on Colorado Boulevard and 29 saying they wanted it on the 134 Freeway, according to a tally by the Boulevard Sentinel. Another 10 speakers did not register a clear route preference.
A question going into the meeting on August 7 is whether Metro is open to studying both a boulevard route and a freeway-based route for Eagle Rock.
The answer is that, for now, Metro’s plan is to study only the boulevard route in Eagle Rock.
That would change only if the Metro Board instructed the Metro staff to study a freeway-based option.
Public meetings, where people can go on the record with their views, are part of the process.
What happens ultimately will be a political decision.
How to Weigh In
Comments for the public record on the NoHo-Pasadena BRT can be submitted until August 15 by e-mail at Nohopasbrt@metro.net, or by calling 213.418.3228,
or by writing to:
Scott Hartwell
Project Manger
Metro
One Gateway Plaza
Mail Stop 99-2-6
Los Angeles, CA 90012
[give_form id=”10189″]
Bill Hendrickson, MBA, publisher of the Boulevard Sentinel, has extensive small business management, marketing and sales experience in corporate finance and real estate development and plays a not terrible game of golf.
I feel that Scott Hartwell should not be the product manager for the BRT of Metro. The last meeting at the Eagle Rock Plaza was unruly and badly managed without air conditioning. Scott Hartwell was disrespetful towards the audience. The female Metro rep was also rude.
Eagle Rock residents have just reasons to fear the BRT expansion. The BRT expansion may be used as an excuse by Metro as a means to build a heavy rail in later years. The Orange Line in the Valley is an example of Metro using the excuse of setting up a BRT and only later planning to replace it with a light rail. Light Rail would destroy the environment and quality of life in Eagle Rock. Another fear which should be mentioned is that Metro is run by Ara Najarian who is also a city councilman in Glendale. If the BRT expansion is approved in Eagle Rock, eventually efforts may be made for Glendale to annex Eagle Rock as well.
The BRT is a waste of money. Public transit use is declining due to the lousy service and arrogant Metro staff such as Hartwell, Najarian, and the female Metro rep who was at the Eagle Rock Plaza meeting. It is better to use Uber instead of riding a slow bus.
It would be more practical if Metro would focus on improving customer service instead of squandering money on tammany hall technology such as BRT. The bus lines such as the 180/181 and 780 which run through Eagle Rock are inconsistent after dark. The 780 which was supposed to be fast and efficient, does not operate after 9pm or on weekends, when it could be useful to decrease drunk drivers from our streets. Money should be spent on DASH bus service to run after 8pm too. Metro should not be charging people more money for riders on express buses either.
Lastly, I disliked how Boulevard Sentinel only posted info abput people in favor of the BRT but did not interview people who were against the BRT. I was upset when Boulevard Sentinel allowed people to post ageist and racist notes against people who were against the BRT yet ironically the Metro reps never spoke out against the racism. I am upset that Boulevard Sentinel allowed Metro to purchase ad space promoting events. I fear that Metro will make an effort to control Eagle Rock media because they know your newspaper is low on cash.