City currently hosts two races
By ROBERT FATURECHI Special to the Daily Press
Following years of unfulfilled requests from promoters, City Hall is finally considering a new beachside race route — the first of its kind in Santa Monica that would provide runners with an ocean view.
While the city currently has four race routes, two of the paths — both near Santa Monica College — are virtually unusable due to growing traffic, according to city officials. If councilmembers approve a new route along the coast, those two paths would be shut down.
“Part of the reason may be that the existing routes don’t appeal to people right now,” said Trinie Garcia-Valdez, community use administrator at the office of open space management at City Hall. “But we frequently get calls from event organizers who are interested in running a race route with an ocean view.”
“Part of the reason may be that the existing routes don’t appeal to people right now. But we frequently get calls from event organizers who are interested in running a race route with an ocean view.” — TRINIE GARCIA-VALDEZ Community use administrator
The new beachside route — if approved — would start along Ocean Park Boulevard, lead onto Barnard Way and run through Main Street, before wrapping around Ocean Avenue into Palisades Park. The track — set to accommodate 5K and 10K races — would eventually loop back around into the Santa Monica Pier entrance.
The proposal was supposed to be discussed Tuesday night at City Hall, but was pushed back by the City Council due to time constraints.
Though traffic concerns have been raised, merchants along Main Street have voiced their support for the new route, hoping big races will attract new clientele.
“Anything that calls positive attention to the street is good,” said Gary Gordon, executive director of the Main Street Business Improvement Association, which represents about 400 businesses along Main Street.
“This brings people to the street and then hopefully they’ll discover new stores they haven’t been to, stores that are new to them,” he added.
Though the Main Street merchants have not yet officially endorsed the beachside route — which would cut through their business district — Gordon said he conducted an informal straw poll by e-mail.
“Not everybody has checked their e-mail, but the response so far has been positive,” Gordon said.
The proposal includes specific provisions to tame the influx of traffic expected on race days.
“We are trying to minimize the impacts on residents and neighbors,” Garcia-Valdez said. “Obviously, you can’t run a race in the city without affecting somebody, and we’re just trying to work it out in the least impactful way.”
Races are restricted to weekends between 7:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., when traffic is typically light. A maximum of four runs can be held on the beach route if it’s approved, according to a city staff report.
Currently, the city is home to only two regular races every year, a number Garcia-Valdez expects to double if the beachside route proposal is passed.
Though race promoters are required to pay a nominal fee for permits — up to a couple hundred dollars per race — they also are faced with covering other expenses, including traffic control, bus rerouting, liability insurance and resident notices.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 29, 2005. Read the original PDF.