Resident hopes to do something about traffic
DOWNTOWN While Los Angeles transportation planners move forward with a proposal to reconfigure signals on Olympic and Pico boulevards to favor one-way traffic flow, a Santa Monica resident is hoping city officials here will consider a one-way street proposal in one of the most heavily congested areas of the city.
Roger Swanson has big dreams for downtown Santa Monica, whose corridors could one day become one-way streets, much like in downtown Los Angeles.
“Some of my friends don’t even come into Santa Monica because they would normally come downtown (via) Santa Monica Boulevard and say ‘what’s the point?’” Swanson said. “It’s jammed from usually Sixth or Fifth (streets) all the way.”
Swanson, who works as a quality management consultant, recently sent a letter to City Hall and the City Council, asking they consider a plan that would turn Santa Monica Boulevard into a westbound one-way street, Colorado Avenue into an eastbound street, Second and Fifth streets into northbound streets, and Fourth and Seventh streets into southbound corridors.
The reason to turn Fourth Street into a pure southbound street is to feed traffic onto the I-10 Freeway while using Fifth Street to funnel traffic into the city from the freeway.
“With the proper signage, you get people away from the downtown area quickly,” he said.
Swanson said he has yet to hear from City Hall about his proposal.
The Ocean Park resident who often walks to the Third Street Promenade instead of driving, said the one-way concept has worked in other major metropolitan cities, including Manhattan, which he said wouldn’t be able to survive if it weren’t for one-way streets.
In addition to one-way streets, Swanson said he believes that bike lanes should be added to Broadway and Arizona Avenue and green light cycles should be increased for all downtown traffic lights, minimizing the yellow light transition period.
Traffic and parking improvements as well as bikeability throughout the city are all concepts being explored in the formulation of the Land Use and Circulation Element, the update of City Hall’s general plan, a 20-year outline of development in Santa Monica.
City officials toyed around with the concept of one-way downtown streets about a decade ago and even momentarily transformed Broadway into a one-way street for about five years, an idea that failed miserably, according to Mayor Herb Katz.
“People in Santa Monica didn’t like the one-way street because they got confused,” he said. “It’s not functional, but it’s nothing to say someone can’t (take another) look at it.”
Transportation Manager Lucy Dyke said there is a history of city officials studying and considering one-way streets in the downtown area. As opposed to two-way streets, their one-direction counterpart tends to carry more cars and encourage drivers to travel at faster speeds, something that city officials didn’t want for the downtown area, hoping instead to encourage alternative transportation.
“Carrying more cars and carrying faster traffic wasn’t as much of a priority as having a good place for people where the economy would work,” Dyke said.
Planning and Community Development Director Eileen Fogarty added that city officials wanted to create a retail and pedestrian-oriented environment.
Swanson’s proposal to create a one-way downtown received mixed-results from promenade shoppers.
“That would be a nightmare,” said Roberta Brown, who lives in Santa Monica and was shopping in the downtown area on Wednesday. “It’s bad enough you get to a corner and find out there’s no left turn.”
Jeff Carefoot, who commutes to work in Santa Monica from his home in Orange County, said it often takes him about 30 minutes just to get out of the Westside. He seemed intrigued by the idea of a one-way street.
“They should,” Carefoot said. “Even if you’re on the right street, you still have to make turns to find parking, so one-way streets would be better.”
Gabrielle Harradine contributed to this report.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 19, 2008. Read the original PDF.