Peak-hour bus lanes are urged

In the endless search for ways to ease traffic congestion, Los Angeles city officials Wednesday took steps toward speeding up rush-hour commutes between downtown and the Westside.

The City Council’s Transportation Committee urged the creation of peak-hour bus lanes along Wilshire Boulevard. The panel also backed a more comprehensive study of a proposal to convert Olympic and Pico boulevards into one-way streets.

“We have a traffic crisis here in Los Angeles,” said Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who heads the panel. “We need to investigate whether these ideas could be solutions to the congestion that is choking our city.”

Both proposals would offer quick and relatively inexpensive fixes to east-west traffic congestion while county transit officials explore more permanent solutions, such as the so-called subway to the sea.

One potential stumbling block: Both ventures would cut through Beverly Hills, which would have to agree to change its own street designs.

Another hurdle: community opposition. On Wednesday, about 40 business owners and residents of Koreatown urged council members to reject Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky’s one-way street proposal.

“People are afraid and concerned about quality of life,” said Grace Yoo, executive director of the Korean American Coalition. She predicted that motorists would speed through the corridor, endangering children and elderly pedestrians.

“It has never worked,” said resident Julia Son, referring to previous attempts to change the direction of major thoroughfares in the city. She demanded that officials try other measures for reducing traffic congestion.

A preliminary study found the street conversions could increase capacity on Olympic and Pico by up to 20%. The study did not address travel time.

City Councilman Jack Weiss, who represents the Westside, called the report a “good-faith conversation starter.”

But Councilman Herb Wesson and others demanded that their districts not be singled out for such an experiment. They want one-way streets and bus-only lanes studied for the San Fernando Valley and other areas of the city as well.

“We have a responsibility to the residential integrity of the people that we represent,” said Wesson, who lives between Pico and Olympic and fears increased cut-through traffic.

“I want to do what I can to help make traffic flow throughout this city,” he said, then pointed out that the emphasis of this project seemed to be Westside-to-downtown commuters, with little regard for the residents in between.

“I want to study it, but I can’t support it,” Councilman Tom LaBonge said. “Keep the 100-meter dash in the Olympic Games, not on Olympic Boulevard.”

Meanwhile, city officials also signed onto a plan to close the Wilshire Boulevard curb lanes to most rush-hour traffic so buses can speed through. The full City Council will consider the proposal next week. Transit officials hope the lanes will shave an average of 12 minutes from a bus ride along Wilshire, which they believe will in turn encourage more commuters to use public transit.

Lanes would be restricted to buses and vehicles turning right on weekdays from 7 to 9 a.m. and from 4 to 7 p.m.

Converting the existing lanes to bus lanes within the city of Los Angeles would cost as much as $14 million and take 18 months to complete, according to the city report. Widening Wilshire to add an eastbound bus lane between Federal and Barrington avenues would cost an additional $2 million and take three to five years to complete.

City officials expect to get most of the money from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the buses. As part of the deal, Los Angeles officials agreed to temporarily close the one-mile stretch of bus lanes on Wilshire between Barrington and Centinela avenues in West Los Angeles. Merchants have complained the lanes eliminate street parking and increase traffic delays.

Councilman Bill Rosendahl had asked the council to shut down the existing bus lanes in his Westside district until they were extended into other council districts.

“The day will come when there will be a bus lane on Wilshire throughout the whole city, including my district, and we look forward to the day,” he said.

jean.guccione@latimes.com