> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # ‘Greening’ the other freeway - URL: https://www.smdp.com/greening-the-other-freeway/ - Published: 2007-07-18T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T02:19:26.000Z - Author: Melody Hanatani - Tags: Environment, Ocean Park, #archive-import *Residents bemoan speeders on Ocean Park Boulevard, hope help is on the way* OCEAN PARK For decades, residents who live along a one-mile stretch of Ocean Park Boulevard west of Lincoln Boulevard have disdainfully referred to the busy corridor as a freeway and airport runway, a wide road that’s attractive for speeding. “It’s an incredibly unsafe street in that from Lincoln to Main (Street), there is one safe place to cross and that is at the Sixth Street signal,” said long-time Ocean Park Boulevard resident Bob Taylor. Residents believe the problem lies in the width of the road and the lack of any significant amount of landscaping, giving the perception of a second freeway to motorists. A peaceful slumber was disrupted for David Auch when a drunken driver came flying down Ocean Park Boulevard last month, striking a vehicle parked in front of the long-time Santa Monica resident’s home. Apparently, through the beer goggles, the alleged drunken driver saw a freeway. “In his stupor, he actually told the police he thought he was on the 10 Freeway and that he wasn’t speeding, he was doing 65 (mph),” said Auch, a member of the Ocean Park Boulevard Committee. The problem dates back to the 1960s when City Hall seized the front yards of the residences along Ocean Park Boulevard through imminent domain, widening the streets to accommodate traffic that would flow to a series of anticipated large-scale developments at the beach, said Ted Winterer, the president of the Ocean Park Association, a neighborhood organization of which the Ocean Park Boulevard Committee is a part. Due to a furor among residents, the large-scale developments, which would’ve turned Santa Monica into Miami Beach west, never materialized, but City Hall never returned the seized property back to its residents, Winterer said. The Ocean Park Boulevard Committee, co-chaired by Taylor, has examined the problems plaguing the residential corridor since then, circulating a petition among residents for the past year asking City Hall to make changes. The petitions calls for Ocean Park Boulevard to be redesigned in a way that would incorporate a concept known as “green streets” — creating a walkable and bikeable area through increased landscaping, safer bike lanes and wider sidewalks. Signed by almost 500 residents, the petition notes that there are approximately 30 accidents reported on Ocean Park Boulevard every year, many of which are hit-and-run incidents. The source of headaches for these residents might soon be no more as City Hall has reportedly pledged to fund in the 2007-08 budget a feasibility study that looks at incorporating these ideas on Ocean Park Boulevard, possibly resulting in wider sidewalks and more landscaping. “The great beauty of living in Ocean Park is it’s such a pedestrian friendly neighborhood, but Ocean Park Boulevard is the great scar down the middle of it,”Winterer said. On the Ocean Park Association’s Web site is an illustration of one of the many ways the corridor could be improved — a “before scene” photograph flashing to a possible future of bicycle lanes separated from the main roadway by a barrier of trees. The association is not asking to reduce the number of lanes along Ocean Park Boulevard, just taking away the unused space on the side. Proponents of the green streets concept say it would not only make Ocean Park Boulevard safer, it would also create a sustainable environment, encouraging bicycling and walking. The advantages of green streets include providing more shade tree canopy, reducing the impact of urban heat and the need for air conditioning for neighbors, said Tom Politeo, a member of the Los Angeles Sierra Club’s Livable Cities Committee. “If it’s done right, it can help create really exciting urban environments where people like to get out and walk in and create a sense of place for a downtown area or a neighborhood where people are going to convene,” Politeo said. Several Santa Monica city committees, including the Sustainable City Task Force and the Recreation and Parks Commission, have endorsed the idea of piloting a green streets program on Ocean Park Boulevard and Broadway. Earlier this year, the Recreation and Parks Commission took part in a nationwide video conference addressing the benefits of green streets, discussing the concept with experts and officials from cities where green streets programs were successfully implemented. One of the biggest benefits for Santa Monica in particular concerns urban runoff. Rather than pouring urban runoff into the storm drain and having it pollute the bay, the water can be refiltrated through a natural percolation process, said Susan Cloke, the chairwoman of the Recreation and Parks Commission. “The whole concept of green street is a concept that makes a lot of sense for Santa Monica,” Cloke said. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 18, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/071807.pdf?ref=smdp.com)