Metro Orange Line (MOL) MIS/DEIS/EIR, San Fernando Valley

Los Angeles, California

Gruen was the lead consultant for a Major Investment Study (MIS) of seven fixed guideway transit alternatives for construction along the Burbank-Chandler corridor—a former railroad ROW—connecting NoHo at the Metro Red Line’s terminus to Warner Center (major concentration of commercial/industrial development in the West Valley). The MIS recommended further study of a cost-effective BRT system. For the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), we assessed the consistency of the proposed BRT and options with applicable land use/development policies, and the BRT’s potential visual and aesthetic impacts. After Board approval, a Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) was done and included conceptual engineering/urban design plans, the assessment of the BRT’s environmental impacts and identification of measures to reduce or avoid impacts. Landscaping, station, pedestrian and bicycle concepts formed the image of what became known as the MOL. The 18-mile, 18-station project opened in 2005.