Lawsuit filed against L.A. over lack of bike lanes, claiming Measure HLA violations

A lawsuit was filed Wednesday against the city of Los Angeles over a lack of updated bike lanes along the county’s busiest bus route.

The suit, filed by Streetsblog L.A. editor Joseph Linton in L.A. County Superior Court, appears to be the first lawsuit filed over a measure that voters approved last year, which demands the city implement a 2015 mobility plan. Among the requirements were new bike lanes on Vermont Avenue amid ongoing and planned improvements.

Linton alleges violations of Measure HLA in the summer of 2024 when the city repaved portions of Vermont Avenue without installing “protected bike lanes and pedestrian enhancements,” and a violation over the Metro board of directors’ recent decision to move forward on plans for the Vermont Transit Corridor to implement bus lanes without including new bike lanes.

The measure gave residents the right to sue over alleged violations.

“It is my hope that this lawsuit will bring the city to the negotiating table and will result in street improvements that save lives, foster public health, stem climate-harming emissions, and improve the quality of life for Vermont Avenue’s pedestrians, bus riders, and bicyclists,” Linton said in a statement on Streetsblog.

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The suit does not seek monetary payment beyond recouping legal fees.

Metro’s project will add dedicated bus lanes and 26 stations at 13 locations along a 12.4-mile stretch on Vermont Avenue between 120th Street and Sunset Boulevard. The route sees 38,000 daily bus boardings, according to Metro, and will especially help disadvantaged communities who rely heavily on public transit.

The project is included in the Measure M expenditure plan, which allocated $425 million for construction.

The plan has been at the center of debate for months. Safe streets advocates have argued that it ignores the voter mandate while the transit agency and city officials have said the measure only applies to city-led projects. Metro has argued that the addition of bike lanes would increase cost and timeline for the project, which has been under study for nearly a decade.

“Measure HLA does not apply when non-city entities, public or private, carry out their own projects in the City’s streets,” L.A. City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto wrote in a letter in November to Streets for All, the advocacy group behind the ballot measure.

The city attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

But citing a partnership agreement between the city and Metro, Linton alleges that the city can’t separate itself from Metro’s plan since it will fund portions of the project, review the project and be involved in the permitting process.

“Ultimately, the city is the guarantor of HLA,” Linton’s attorney, Mike Gatto said. “The city also has a relationship with Metro — a contractual relationship based on certain provisions that the Los Angeles City Council and the Metro board both approved.”