u/Cold-Improvement6778

❗️ATTENTION ❗️Public Broadway Bus Priority Lanes meeting coming up Monday, June 1st 6-7 pm

ISSUE SUMMARY: 
Metro is proposing Broadway Bus Priority Lanes along Broadway through DTLA, from Cesar Chavez Avenue to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, as part of improvements to Metro Line 45.

Metro’s project materials describe full-time bus priority lanes, along with related improvements such as bus stop upgrades, ADA curb ramps, pedestrian lighting, sidewalk repair, street trees, wayfinding, and transit signal priority.

The immediate concern is that many people who live, work, own property, operate businesses, manage spaces, or rely on Broadway access feel they only recently became aware of the scope and potential impacts.

IMPORTANT FRAMING
This should not be framed as anti-transit.

A lot of DTLA residents and stakeholders support better transit, walkability, safer streets, rail, and thoughtful mobility improvements.

The concern is whether Broadway is the right corridor for this specific configuration and whether Metro has meaningfully accounted for how the Historic Core/Broadway corridor actually functions day to day.

WHY BROADWAY IS COMPLICATED
Broadway is not just a commuter street.
It also functions as:
• a residential corridor
• a small business corridor
• a hospitality/restaurant corridor
• a historic theater district
• a filming and production corridor
• a tourism/nightlife corridor
• a loading/service corridor
• a community gathering corridor

MAIN STAKEHOLDER CONCERNS
Potential impacts people are concerned about include:
• loading zones
• hotel and restaurant drop-offs
• rideshare access
• delivery/vendor access
• accessibility for elderly and disabled residents, visitors, and patrons
• film/TV production load-in/load-out
• historic theater and event operations
• outdoor dining/community spaces
• traffic displacement onto adjacent streets
• loss of curb functionality for businesses, residents, and venues

PROCESS / OUTREACH CONCERN
Many stakeholders feel the outreach timeline has been very compressed given the scale of the proposal.
Mailers appear to have arrived only a few days before the Monday meeting for some corridor stakeholders.
People are asking for more transparency, direct outreach, and public discussion before major corridor changes move forward.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS / ANGLES TO RAISE
Rather than simply saying “stop this,” the stronger message is:
• Has Metro fully studied alternatives?
• Why was Broadway selected for this configuration?
• Was Hill Street studied as an alternative?
• Was a Broadway/Hill paired route studied?
• Were center-running or median-protected designs studied?
• How will curb access be preserved?
• How will loading zones work?
• How will hotels, restaurants, residences, theaters, and production shoots function?

• Were FilmLA, location managers, theater operators, hotel operators, restaurant owners, HOAs, and local businesses consulted?
• How will comments from Monday’s meeting affect the design before anything is finalized?

POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE DISCUSSION
Some stakeholders feel neighboring Hill Street may deserve serious study because it appears to have wider roadway geometry and an existing center-lane condition.

Some are also interested in whether a paired Broadway/Hill approach or center-running configuration could better preserve Broadway’s curb access while still supporting transit priority.

This is not a finalized technical recommendation, just something stakeholders want Metro to publicly address and compare.

CALL TO ACTION
Metro is holding a virtual community meeting:
Monday, June 1, 2026
6:00 PM
(QR code to meeting in comments)

\*\*\*Accuracy note\*\*\*
Metro’s current project language describes this as the “Broadway Bus Priority Lanes” project, not necessarily a full Bus Rapid Transit/BRT project.
For accuracy, it’s safest to say:“bus priority lanes,” “dedicated bus priority lanes,” or “full-time bus priority lanes for Metro Line 45.”

Avoid calling it “BRT” unless Metro uses that term directly in the meeting or official materials.
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