Here are your responses: “SORRY, FOLKS. TRAFFIC CONGESTION IS here to stay in Santa Monica during the a.m. and early p.m. hours of the day due to the jobs being here — retail businesses, high-rise buildings and factories. Still, it is no better in the South Bay area. Recently, I drove along the coast from Santa Monica to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. It was noon and I had heavy traffic all the way. I decided to drive home to Santa Monica via the San Diego and 10 freeways. The San Diego freeway was running smoothly at 6 mph, bumper-to-bumper. I got off the freeway as soon as I could and headed west to Lincoln Boulevard. Again, bumper-to-bumper traffic to Wilshire. Keep in mind this was midday traffic and not during the go-home go-to-work traffic crunch.
I personally do not subscribe to the rearrangement of Olympic and Pico boulevards. I am nearly certain a change to one-way will create more problems than it solves for businesses and residents who work and live near those roadways, and it will certainly create more traffic on those residential streets adjacent to these roadways.”
“LET’S GIVE IT A TRY. WHAT DO WE HAVE to lose?”
“THEY SHOULD JUST ASK THE SANTA Monica traffic guy doing this one-way street business if it’s a good idea. If the answer is ‘yes,’ that means it’s a bad idea, because whoever is in charge of traffic in Santa Monica is a total idiot and should be fired, what with putting in all those curb extensions so people can’t make a right hand turn when there’s a red light. They do stupid things like that so, obviously, Los Angeles is trying to outdo Santa Monica in the traffic stupidity department.”
“FIRST, WE NEED TO SEND OUR CITY Council and their traffic engineers back to New York City for ruining our streets with their crazy traffic calming, or traffic “maddening” programs. They reduced lanes and added bumps and obstacles to slow traffic. Now they want to ruin Olympic and Pico boulevards, when they’re the only two streets that move. The real problem is that our town sold out to tourism and over-development. Thousands of tourists come here every day, and many are lost or have driver’s licenses from some country with three cars. Howard Hughes’ old empty estate now has thousands of residents that flood our streets, especially Lincoln Boulevard. Because of constant traffic, we now try to avoid stinkin’ Lincoln Boulevard. If any street needs fixing, it’s Lincoln, not Olympic or Pico.”
“I BELIEVE IT WOULD BE A WONDERFUL idea to make Olympic Boulevard one-way, because it’s so crowded here in Los Angeles. I am now a disabled individual, but, boy, I think that maybe pretty soon we’re gonna have to use private aircraft!”
“WELL, I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS ONE. Another insane idea by our City Council to change the streets and divert this and redirect that. Every time they try to do something, it just ends up worse than it was. This is a really insane idea. I can’t believe this. But again, that’s Santa Monica!”
“EVE RY 10 YEARS O R SO, TH E transportation department trots out some one-way street plan. None work. At one time, Fifth Street, Sixth Street and Broadway were one-way. Here is the traffic problem in a nutshell, here is every problem in Santa Monica in a nutshell: Gross over-development. Montana Avenue was four lanes; Broadway was four lanes; Fourth Street, south of Wilshire was four lanes. How many condos and Water Gardens, hotels, lazy public housing have been built since those streets were choked with City Hall beautification? The quality of life in Santa Monica in the last 20 years has greatly deteriorated. Every time I watch the City Council, I think of Abbot and Costello, Laurel & Hardy and The Three Stooges — all arguing as to who has the dumbest idea to cure traffic, and that is to get us all on those 10-speed bicycles. Stop development and you will stop the traffic problem. Who cares about Los Angeles anyway?”
“I THINK IT WOULD BE FANTASTIC TO convert Olympic and Pico into one-way boulevards. I think that would be fantastic because those streets are miserable to drive on and get around on, even if you’re taking the bus and trying to get across the intersection. I go down Olympic every day to work into Westwood, and it is miserable, so I think converting them — at least Olympic — that would be absolutely great. And especially since, now, on Stewart Street, they’re building that new parking lot for the college. Wow. Yeah, it would be really great.”
“I THINK DIRECTING THE TRAFFIC one-way on Pico and Olympic would be about as helpful as those floral beds they planted on Wilshire Boulevard. More traffic congestion.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 21, 2007. Read the original PDF.