> ## 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. # One-way decisions - URL: https://www.smdp.com/one-way-decisions/ - Published: 2007-04-02T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T00:20:59.000Z - Author: Kevin Herrera - Tags: local, Downtown, #archive-import *Los Angeles and SM debate future fate of Pico, Olympic boulevards and their directions* EASTSIDE The thought of making Olympic and Pico boulevards one-way streets has Charles Burns smiling like a kid on Christmas morning. “I think it’s great,” the mortgage broker said following an afternoon workout Friday at a nearby gym. “It can take me as much as an hour just to get from Santa Monica to Westwood during rush hour. It’s literally like a parking lot, so anything they can do to help, I’m all for it.” Burns isn’t the only one. The idea of making the major thoroughfares flow in opposite directions from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica is gaining momentum and generating buzz throughout the Westside. A traffic consultant is close to completing a study of the concept, which was proposed earlier this year by Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who has represented the Westside and Santa Monica for decades and knows personally the headaches caused by congestion. “It’s a mess,” the supervisor said.“Driving from the ocean to the 405 \[Freeway\] can take at least an hour at certain times of the day.” The study marks what could be a year long process to reconfigure the streets and add dedicated bus lanes. The change would require the approval of the Los Angeles City Council as well as leaders in Beverly Hills, home to a small stretch of Olympic Boulevard. City officials in Santa Monica also hope to have a spot at the table to discuss what potential impacts this proposal may have on mobility in the city, which has in the past experimented with one-way streets on heavily-traveled Broadway and Colorado Avenue. There is some concern about “cut-through” traffic as drivers travel between Olympic and Pico, and some business interests have expressed their fear of losing customers who would find it more difficult to reach their stores and find suitable park. Yaroslavsky is asking for people to have an open mind and is promoting the plan as a more cost-efficient, and faster way of improving traffic flow than waiting for light rail or subway line to reach the sea. “There are some aspects that could be considered controversial, and we will try to address as many concerns as possible,” Yaroslavsky said. “But if we try to respond to 100 percent of them, what we will end up with is the status quo and that is unacceptable.” Backers of the project believe it can be done quickly, simply by adding new signage, reconfiguring traffic signals and perhaps doing some relatively minor street improvements along the 15-mile stretch. Critics said the reconfiguration would turn the boulevards into racetracks and threaten pedestrian safety. There are also those who look at the potential price tag as an obstacle, which could reach millions of dollars according to L.A. city traffic officials. There could be additional costs if the city were to implement traffic reducing measures on residential streets to curb cut-through traffic. While the plan does not include Santa Monica, officials here are interested in seeing what transpires, especially considering that city staff is currently working with residents throughout the municipality as part of an update to the city’s general plan, which guides future development. “From the city’s perspective, one of the things we will be looking at is what this means if you are going one way and hit the city boundaries, what would that do to our circulation,” said Eileen Fogarty, director of planning and community development for City Hall. “We want to see if this is something that can be done fairly seamlessly.” In recent meetings with residents living in the Pico Neighborhood and Sunset Park, two areas which suffer from heavy traffic congestion, city staff has seen a strong desire for slowing down traffic, not speeding it up. It seems residents want traffic to move smoothly, but not at the expense of the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists. “One-way trafficking is something that both fire and police departments have issues with (because of mobility) and we need to look at the impacts on residential communities from a pedestrian standpoint,” Fogarty said. Councilmember Pam O’Connor, who is the first vice chair of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said one-way streets are just one model used to alleviate traffic and it is important to study it as well as others. She said several cities across the country have one-way streets and drivers have adjusted. “What this is all about is getting the most operating efficiency out of our roads,” O’Connor said. “The reality is we are not going to be widening any roads so we need to use them as best we can, maximize their potential.” O’Connor suggested looking at transverse lanes, where streets could be made one-way during certain hours of the day and then reverted back to two-way. One person who has his mind made up about one-way streets is Mayor Pro Tem Herb Katz, who believes it would be a mistake to do so. He remembers complaints City Hall received when Broadway and Colorado were made one-way more than seven years ago. “The merchants did not like that at all. It drove people nuts … It turns everything around,” Katz said.“We need to look at transverse lanes. I think that is the way to go.” As for Burns, who works in Century City, anything would be a blessing if it meant he could get across town without having to rearrange his whole day. “People may joke about it, but you really do have to rearrange your whole life around traffic,”he said.“It’s like you have to put your life on hold for three hours every day or become used to the fact that you’ll be spending a lot of your time sitting in you car, not going anywhere.” Over on Pico, Tim Heritage, owner of an art gallery and custom frame shop, said he too would welcome a change to help with traffic. He watches every day from his store’s front window as motorists sit at a virtual stand still as cars block intersections near the entrance to Interstate 10 at Bundy Drive. He has also seen drivers make wild moves to avoid it, clipping cars in the process. “I guess one-way would work,” Heritage said. “Why not try it?” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 2, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/040207.pdf?ref=smdp.com)