Metro Approval Sets Stage for Construction of NoHo-Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit Line

This morning, the Metro Board of Directors approved moving into the construction phase of its overdue North Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. The approval [staff report] was not for the full ~$320+million build-out, but for an initial $135 million “preconstruction” phase which finalizes the design and engineering, and starts $44.5 million worth of early construction activity.

The 19-mile, 22-station BRT project will connect the Metro A Line Memorial Park Station (in Pasadena) to the Metro B and G Line North Hollywood Station. The line will serve the cities of Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, and the L.A. City neighborhoods of Eagle Rock and North Hollywood.

The project was funded in 2016 via Metro’s Measure M sales tax, which programmed $266 million toward an anticipated 2020-23 groundbreaking and a 2022-25 opening. In 2018, the project received an additional $50 million in state transit capital grant funds.

The planning process was contentious, with some Eagle Rock residents fighting (including filing a lawsuit) against proposed Colorado Boulevard bus lanes. In 2022, Metro approved a fairly ambitious design, largely based on a context-sensitive pro-transit community design.

Some Burbank residents also later protested against bus lanes there.

Since 2022, Metro has awarded two smaller contracts for NoHo-Pasadena BRT project management and architecture/engineering.

Meanwhile Metro construction costs crept upwards faster than sales tax revenue. Delays don’t just mean local bus riders are missing out; if Metro doesn’t get construction underway fairly soon, the project might not open until after the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The approval of $135M today will take the project through the next two years. It brings onboard the BRT project Construction Manager/General Contractor (CM/GC) to get early work underway, mainly utility investigation and relocation. If this preconstruction (and final design) phase goes as planned, the project will ramp up into full construction by 2027.