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# Step in right direction
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/step-in-right-direction/
- Published: 2003-11-14T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T03:14:25.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: local, Montana, #archive-import

Beachcombers looking for a quick jaunt to the Third Street Promenade and downtown area may encounter some obstacles come early next year, as two staircases leading from Palisades Park down to Santa Monica Beach will be closed so work crews can upgrade the aging steps and install lighting.

The $437,000 project is expected to take four months to complete and will focus on the staircases near Montana Avenue and Broadway, officials said.

“We are just replacing and repairing the existing stairs,” said Eugenia Chusid, project manager for the overhaul. “We are not removing them, we are not redesigning them — we are making them structurally sound. And we are adding some lighting.”

A separate footpath from Idaho Avenue down to the California Incline is not part of the project. Both the Broadway and Montana stairs, built in 1980, were closed for several years following the 1994 earthquake, noted Karen Ginsberg, assistant director of City Hall’s community and cultural services department.

All three routes are used regularly by walkers, joggers and others to reach the ocean or access central Santa Monica from the beach.

In order for the project to move ahead on schedule, the Coastal Commission must approve it at its December meeting and the City Council must give its nod in January. Chusid said construction is expected to begin in late January or early February.

The Coastal Commission plans and regulates land and water issues in the coastal zone. In Santa Monica, that means any development south of Pico Boulevard and west of Lincoln Avenue requires its approval, as does any development north of Pico Boulevard and west of Fourth Street, said Al Padilla, coastal program analyst for the commission.

Before it approves the project, Padilla said the commission must evaluate “what impact it would have on public access, geologic stability of the bluffs... taking a look at the site and looking at the materials submitted.”

Chusid said grants from the California Department of Transportation, a state agency that oversees transportation issues, will pay for the project, which, in addition to adding lighting and doing repair work, also includes new plantings. CalTrans owned the staircases until they gave them to the city in 1999.

“We’re not doing a major construction, we are just repairing whatever we have and beautifying with some plants,” Chusid added.

> “We’re not doing a major construction, we are just repairing whatever we have and beautifying with some plants.” — — EUGENIA CHUSID Project manager

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 14, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/111403.pdf?ref=smdp.com)