YOU’VE GOT TO HAND IT TO CITY OF Los Angeles politicians. They’re finally doing something to relieve traffic congestion on the Westside. Until recently, traffic wasn’t on their radar screens. It’s amazing how being late for a family dinner or missing a Lakers tip-off because of gridlock can goad the honchos in charge into getting off their behinds Last Monday, Los Angeles mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, announced a plan to alleviate chronic congestion by banning rush hour parking and timing traffic signals to favor westbound traffic on Olympic Boulevard and eastbound traffic on Pico Boulevard.
Because it only involves Los Angeles, traffic flow enhancements will terminate on Santa Monica’s border at Centinela Avenue. My hat’s off to traffic planners in L.A. who’re doing something to facilitate traffic movement at peak periods. Maybe Santa Monica’s traffic planners will follow their lead. Yeah, right.
For years, many Santa Monicans have suggested restricting rush hour parking on key thoroughfares such as Pico, Santa Monica and Wilshire boulevards, 26th Street, Lincoln Boulevard and Fourth and Fifth streets downtown. This would open up critical street space for vehicular traffic and reduce congestion. Timing signals to expedite vehicle flow instead of impeding it, would also be a relatively quick and inexpensive way to relieve congestion. Imagine a rush hour trip on the Santa Monica portion of Pico taking 10 minutes instead of 30? Sweet.
Here, City Hall is locked into an agenda that deliberately restricts vehicular traffic. In last Wednesday’s Daily Press (“L.A. traffic plan a mixed bag,” Page 1, Nov. 28) Santa Monica mayor, Richard Bloom, said of L.A.s plans, “While it would temporarily alleviate gridlock in the short term, congestion will creep back into the two boulevards as more and more people will see it’s easier to drive. What is needed is a change in attitude.”
And, therein is the problem. Encouraging gridlock and doing nothing to alleviate it because “streets will fill up again” is myopic, irresponsible and classic Santa Monica. It’s like, “We have a shortage of hot water, so we’ll force people to take cold showers instead of installing a bigger water heater."
Not addressing traffic congestion makes people more frustrated and maybe even angry enough to think seriously about replacing fat-bottomed politicians whose quixotic vision impedes their ability to respond to urgent community needs.
Bloom is correct when he said streets where traffic flow has been improved will become congested again as people migrate to them because they’ve become easier to drive. So what? Even a few years of "easier to drive” streets are a big win. Bloom seems to intentionally ignore the fact that even though vehicular traffic counts are increasing steadily, when a street’s capacity to carry traffic is increased, it’ll never be as congested as if nothing were done at all.
In recent years, Santa Monica has deliberately eliminated or narrowed traffic lanes on most major streets exacerbating traffic problems. Traffic management’s next fiasco, a “test” that will see Ocean Park Boulevard striped to single lanes in each direction between Lincoln and 25th Street, begins in a few weeks. Two weeks ago, City Council authorized nearly a $1 million for "improvements” on eastern Colorado Avenue that will further accelerate traffic congestion in that area.
Bloom said, “... we widen freeways, and then when that fills up, we do things like synchronize signals to make the streets more efficient. All these are well and good but they support an infrastructure that is broken and can’t sustain us for the long term.” That’s why City Hall would rather try to “change behavior" than fix problems — even temporarily? How stupid is that? None of this should be a surprise, though. Wasn’t it Bloom and others on the council who promoted and praised the disastrous Pico slalom course?
No matter what we do, traffic isn’t going to vanish. It will increase and, like water, flow the course of least resistance will win out. Unfortunately, in many cases such as in Sunset Park, it’ll be where nobody wants traffic: On residential streets.
Viable alternatives to private cars such as clean, safe, convenient, affordable busses, subway or light rail trains with integral transit stops that are an easy walk from home, school or work might change attitudes and behavior — 15, 20 or 25 years from now.
Until 2025 or whenever, it’s time that elected officials such as Bloom (who will most likely seek another City Council term next year) stop the B.S. and work toward upgrading the existing infrastructure we depend on to get to work, school, and home.
Our politicians could learn a lesson from the late Richard J. Daley, the former mayor of Chicago, who said filling the potholes keeps voters happy. As for the philosophizing and psycho-babble, if we wanted Dr. Phil to be our mayor, we would have elected him instead.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 3, 2007. Read the original PDF.