Burbank city council to hear opposing sides on controversial bus lane proposal

Burbank City Council members will hear opposing sides on a controversial proposal that could take half of the lanes on Olive Avenue and designate them for bus use only. 

The proposal is part of a 19-mile project first introduced in 2017 that seeks to create rapid bus service from North Hollywood to Pasadena, address speeding and crash concerns and improve pedestrian mobility in the area. 

The street currently has two lanes heading in opposite directions, but the project would take one lane on each side specifically for buses. 

Residents gathered on Tuesday to combat the proposal, saying that the reduction of lanes on the two mile stretch of Olive Avenue between Glenoaks Boulevard and Sunset Canyon Drive would only create more issues. 

"Olive Avenue is a massively trafficked area of thoroughfare in Burbank; about 28,000 cars per day" said David Donahue with Vision Burbank. "So if you take away two full lanes, what's gonna happen to the rest of the vehicle traffic? It's gonna cut through the neighborhoods. It's gonna impact every other major arterial that goes through the city of Burbank."

Transportation officials say that though driving through the area made add an extra minute or two, the project would allow them to provide transit to more people overall. 

"Yes, transit would be slowed but the slow might be another minute or two in their commute," said Eddy Polon, the Burbank Transportation Commissioner. "So, understanding no one wants any inconvenience, but we don't live in a master planned community. We live in a legacy community struggling to catch up and provide transit for everybody."

Metro put aside $317 million for the bus rapid transit project, including Measure M money and $50 million from a California state grant. 

Despite reports that city council would be making a decision on the proposal on Tuesday, the cooperative currently stands as it was approved in 2022, meaning that the project will have a mixed flow and there will be no designated bus lanes.