Trolley to roll in April

CITY HALL — A long-anticipated public trolley down Brand Boulevard will start running next month, Caruso Affiliated officials announced this week.

The rubber-wheel trolley will run from the Nestlé headquarters on North Brand to the Americana at Brand from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, Rick Lemmo, Caruso’s vice president of community relations, said Tuesday at a joint meeting of the City Council and Redevelopment Agency.

“Everything we do, as all of the council members know, is promises made, promises kept,” Lemmo said.

The trolley will be “absolutely free” and have six stops as it makes its way down Brand so that all downtown retailers can benefit from its service, Lemmo added.

Local residents and merchants have for years pushed for a trolley or tram service in the downtown area to move people from parking lots and venues along the city’s main thoroughfare.

“Some idea of a circulator system in the downtown has always been part of the larger plan in the long term,” said Community Planning Director Hassan Haghani.

On Wednesday, Councilman John Drayman said he was thrilled the trolley, which he said had been in the works for some time, would soon be a reality. All necessary permits have been obtained, he said.

“Caruso Affiliated has taken the steps to increase our mobility, spin off sales in the downtown area, and they’ve done it with their own dollars,” he said. “How could I be anything but happy with that?”

While the trolley will have limited operation, Drayman added that he hoped the city would build upon the service to fulfill the long-talked-about goal of creating a downtown circulator.

“Obviously, we have had financial constraints and other priorities that had to come first,” he said. “It will give the city an opportunity to see how the circulator is going to work without us having to spend the funds to do it.”

Elissa Glickman, secretary for the Downtown Glendale Merchants Assn., said the trolley service would be a great addition for the downtown area, and could help the business of merchants along the route.

“Los Angeles is not known for its being a great walking community,” she said. “So anything that gets people out of the high-rise buildings and experiencing new restaurants and dining locations and retail shops along the way can only be beneficial.”