By Melody Hanatani
Daily Press Staff Writer

SUNSET PARK — Business owners and residents fed up with traffic accidents on Ocean Park Boulevard will get their chance to vent tonight.

The City Council is expected to hear an update on a traffic safety study targeting the accident-prone area just weeks after a pedestrian in a crosswalk was killed by a vehicle near the intersection with 25th Street.

Councilman Richard Bloom requested that the Transportation Management Division brief council on the progress of a traffic safety study for which it allocated approximately $75,000 last year. The study was in answer to a neighborhood petition for improved safety in an area of the city stacked with schools.

“There is a history of traffic accidents along Ocean Park Boulevard and I know that our city staff has tried to install some measures only a couple of years ago ... but it is a very difficult problem to assess and respond to,” Bloom said.

“Normally, I would’ve simply gone to staff and said ‘what is the status?’” Bloom said. “But because there is such a heightened interest to the people who live in that area, I’ve taken the step of putting it on the council agenda.”

Yet, no study has officially begun, according to Senior Transportation Planner Beth Rolandson of the Transportation Management Division. Thus far, the office has only held an outreach workshop, in May, for the community to express its concerns.

“The community definitely voiced concerns about speeding vehicles, pedestrian access and parking availability,” remarked Rolandson on Tuesday.

‘EVERY DAY, I HEAR SCREECHING’

Neighborhood residents have complained for years about the dangers pedestrians face as they brave crosswalks along Ocean Park Boulevard.

Business owners have reported cars coming close to hitting pedestrians almost every day on the thoroughfare due to a problem that they feel is caused by a combination of speeding motorists and poor signage.

Jeanne Lisella, a chiropractor on Ocean Park Boulevard, said she was almost hit twice while using a crosswalk at 18th Street. In one incident, Lisella said she could actually feel the car graze her back as it sped past.

Lisella said she would like to see a pedestrian-activated flashing red light, similar to ones on Main Street.

Nancy Lombardi, of Artful on Ocean Park Boulevard, complained that lights embedded along a crosswalk on 18th Street fail to flash when a pedestrian pushes the button.

“Every day I hear cars screeching,” Lombardi said. “I’ve barely been missed a couple of times.”

The issue has caused business owners like Lombardi to contact city officials and to warn their visitors that looking both ways across the street might not necessarily prevent an accident, which is what Mark and Lydia Malkowski learned when they were hit by a car in 2004.

The Malkowskis were shopping on Ocean Park Boulevard in December of 2004 when they were struck by a car in the crosswalk at 18th Street. Mark Malkowski said he crossed the street after he activated the light and saw there was no oncoming traffic.

As they passed the first lane, Malkowski said he heard the sound of brakes screeching and saw his wife get knocked up about 25 feet. Mark Malkowski sustained a back sprain and whiplash, while Lydia Malkowski suffered hip and shoulder pains. Lydia said she is still seeking treatment.

Mark Malkowski said he wrote to every member of City Council and received two responses — one replied that they would look into the issue, while another member reportedly said they could not install a flashing light because it would interrupt the flow of traffic.

“Do they have to wait until someone is killed or more than one person is killed until they finally do something?” Malkowski asked.

THE BEAT GOES ON

Julia Dumas-Mitchell said she can see accidents almost occur every day from the window of her children’s clothing store, Pookie, on Ocean Park Boulevard.

“It is very traumatic for me to every day sit in my store and see mothers and children almost get hit,” Dumas-Mitchell said. “Not a day goes by where there is not an almost-accident.”

The most traumatic experience occurred on Sept. 8, when she saw a woman get hit by a car in a crosswalk as Dumas-Mitchell stepped onto the same crosswalk from across the street.

“I was crossing and the next thing, I saw this woman fly up into the air,” Dumas-Mitchell said.

Dumas-Mitchell’s sister was also struck by a car about a year ago in a hit-and-run accident at Ocean Park Boulevard and 18th Street in front of Pookie.

“You wonder how many people need to get hit on Ocean Park Boulevard before the city of Santa Monica will really do anything about it,” Dumas-Mitchell said.