Skip to Content
Streetsblog California home
Streetsblog California home
Log In
Bus Rapid Transit

Councilmember Kevin de León Announces Support for Eagle Rock Bus Transit Plan

This morning, L.A. City Councilmember - and mayoral candidate - Kevin de León formally announced his support for plans to implement effective Bus Rapid Transit by reducing the number of car lanes on a portion of downtown Eagle Rock's Colorado Boulevard. Specifically, de León endorsed Metro's "single lane" alternative "F1," which is largely based on the community-led design proposal called the Beautiful Boulevard. Speaking today, De León characterized the new BRT line as "a model for the city and county," with benefits including "cleaner air, better public transit, protection for local businesses, and equity for bus riders."

The Colorado Boulevard segment is part of Metro's planned North Hollywood to Pasadena BRT project. The ~18-mile-long new line will span four cities: Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, and Los Angeles, including the L.A. City neighborhoods of Eagle Rock and North Hollywood.

In Metro's Measure M sales tax plan, voters approved $267 million for the BRT line, with an anticipated groundbreaking in 2020. As Metro got project outreach in full swing in 2019, the Colorado stretch touched off a nativist backlash among some Eagle Rock folks opposed to improving transit there, who claimed that Metro planned to “manufacture traffic, congestion, and gridlock.”

Metro's Colorado Blvd Refined F1 alternative (configuration largely drawn from the Beautiful Boulevard proposal) would have center-running BRT. Image via Metro presentation
Metro's Colorado Boulevard Refined F1 alternative (configuration largely drawn from the Beautiful Boulevard proposal) would have center-running BRT. Image via Metro presentation
false

Pro-transit Eagle Rock residents got organized. They gathered broad stakeholder support for their one-size-does-not-fit-all Beautiful Boulevard plan. In 2021, Metro incorporated nearly all of the community design into the alternatives being analyzed.

Councilmember de León took office in October 2020. In mid-2021, de León weighed in on the project with a letter urging Metro to hold additional meetings and to "maintain two through lanes," contrary to the Beautiful Boulevard design. (Maintaining two through lanes would entail other trade-offs: removing existing on-street parking and/or existing bike lanes, narrowing landscaped medians - or putting BRT on the parallel 134 Freeway, effectively bypassing Eagle Rock.)

Today, de León credited additional public process leading to a consensus, declaring that he "stand[s] in support of the one-lane option." He credited grassroots "Beautiful Boulevard advocates who worked tirelessly to develop a realistic plan that preserved Eagle Rock," and credited Metro for conducting additional outreach.

De León was joined by Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council Planning and Land Use Committee Co-Chair Natalie Freidberg, who described Colorado Boulevard as currently "like a racetrack... unpleasant and dangerous." She supports BRT plans to make the street "safer, quieter, and prettier" as well as benefiting local workers and supporting outdoor dining.

De León further spelled out his support in a letter to the Metro board. That letter lists recommended project components - including extensive landscaping, a business interruption fund, minimizing cut-through traffic in adjacent residential neighborhoods, and all-electric buses.

Late last week, Metro released the BRT project's Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR), which will come to the Metro board for approval in the next few months.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog California

Wednesday’s Headlines

No fed money for bike/ped projects, transit operations, high speed rail...but hey, let's get moving on the flying taxis.

September 17, 2025

Windsor Stoked About its New Train

All about my car-free mini-vacation in the Sonoma town of Windsor, which is truly embracing the bike/train lifestyle. But there's still work left to do.

September 17, 2025

StreetSmart Episode 9: What Is an EIFD, and Should Your City Be Using Them?

We welcome back Melanie Curry to teach us about EIFD's and some exciting projects in Sacramento.

September 16, 2025

Breaking: US DOT Pulls Grants For Projects That Aren’t Focused on Cars

The Trump administration bias for "vehicular travel" — and the burning of fossil fuels that it requires — rears its ugly head again.

September 16, 2025

Eyes on the Street: New Florence Avenue Bus Lanes

Just west of the Florence A Line Station, L.A. County has installed bright red bus only lane pavement markings.

September 16, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines

More fallout from the legislature and lots of good local planning.

September 16, 2025
See all posts