The years-long struggle over a proposed bus lane on Olive Avenue in Burbank has escalated even further. In May the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) filed a lawsuit against the City of Burbank. Metro claims that the city is illegally withholding permits for the project. The city says that the permits may need further environmental review due to potential upzoning that could occur as a result of implementing the bus lane.

The dedicated bus lane would become a part of Metro’s North Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project that will run between North Hollywood and Pasadena. When the project was first proposed, many Burbank residents objected on the grounds that removing a lane currently used by cars could further exacerbate congestion. There are also new concerns since the passage of SB 79, a State law that allows for significant upzoning of parcels in close proximity to some transit lines.

A statement posted on the City of Burbank’s web site says….

The City supports the BRT and is participating in its planning, environmental review, and design stages. During the Project’s environmental review, the City Council requested mixed-flow on one BRT segment along Olive Avenue between Buena Vista and Lake Streets due to concerns about intersection congestion and related spillover traffic impacts into adjoining residential neighborhoods. Since 2022, the City has continued to collaborate with Metro to deliver the BRT Project, while continuing to assert the Council’s Olive Avenue mixed-flow position.

You can learn more about the city’s position by going to their web site.

Metro NoHo-Pasadena Corridor Bus Rapid Transit Project

And you can read Metro’s lawsuit by following the link below.

Metro Lawsuit against City of Burbank