By Daily Press staff
The city will close 26th Street between Wilshire Boulevard and Montana Avenue from today through Saturday.
The closure will occur so the final stage of construction on Santa Monica’s first roundabout — located at 26th and Washington Avenue — can be completed, according to a city press release.
The roundabout will allow pedestrians to cross the street more easily without substantially changing neighborhood traffic patterns. Santa Monica has established a Web site to allow Internet users a peak at the operation of a roundabout at roundabout.santa-monica.org.
Seen in more and more American communities, the roundabout is a circular intersection where vehicles entering the intersection yield to vehicles already in the intersection, keeping traffic from locking up and allowing free flow of movement.
A landscaped island in the center of the roundabout in Santa Monica, landscaping at the corners and small medians at the intersection’s approaches will add green space to the neighborhood.
The roundabout is part of a $4.7 million pedestrian improvement project that includes enhancements to Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, Broadway, Ocean Park Boulevard and 26th Street. Construction for the entire project is scheduled for completion in July.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 4, 2003. Read the original PDF.