Category Archives: Bike Infrastructure

CALL TO ACTION: Email City Council on Severe Transportation Budget Cuts that Threaten our Safety

Leave a reply

The streets we travel on make up over 20% of our city, and are one of our biggest assets. â€‹Our streets move people, goods, and services and are essential infrastructure for our economic and social recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.​ It is crucial how we manage and use this public asset, at the core of economic resilience, social equity, health and environmental sustainability.

Read our full letter HERE
#TransportationMatters #SafeStreets

How we manage our streets – or ignore them – will move us either toward environmental justice, economic recovery and climate resiliency or away from those vital community and city goals. Our goals must be prioritized, clearly, in all plans and efforts to create solutions appropriate to equitably resolve the budget crisis caused by Covid-19.

Please join us and share your support with Santa Monica City Council.
Information, email addresses and template 
can be found HERE.

While the City suffers catastrophic shortfalls, we should not use a sledgehammer where a scalpel is needed to balance new budgets. Let’s be strategic and thoughtful with “restructuring” that reduces costs and bureaucracy while retaining essential capacity that builds confidently on the foundation and programs that our public roadways and investments afford us as they advance us to a vibrant and full recovery.

Use any of these images or your own to share this message on Social Media #TransportationMatters #SafeStreets

  • Shared Mobility keeps us moving
  • Access to safe mobility is tied to health and wellbeing
  • Mobility supports economic recovery for our Local Business
  • Equity = Safe Mobility for our Essential Workers and Commuters

Action Alert: Stewart / Pennsylvania Bike & Pedestrian Project

Leave a reply

Your input is needed!

Hello friends, interested in road safety?
We invite you to take this short survey now on the much needed and innovative improvements proposed for Stewart Street & Pennsylvania Avenue. The project is under attack for some of the needed safety improvements.

Click to take the Survey

• You will be prompted to click on each icon in the navigation on the left.
• At the bottom of each element, there is a + with the name of the project.
• Click to take survey.
• Fill in comments, then submit. You only get once chance, so make it count.
• Move down the list to the next of the 4 element of the project to give your opinion.

City planners have designed a very innovative project and clearly worked extremely hard to design the best possible project incorporating community and local business input and feedback for the fewest tradeoffs and losses to parking. In addition to two Community Open Houses, local business and stakeholders have been engaged for input during the design process. This project is also identified as part of the Land Use and Circulation Element, the Bike Action Plan, the Bergamot Area Plan, and the Pedestrian Action Plan. 

It appears the project is being attacked by one of the local businesses that has taken a dislike to the project due to a (minimal) loss of on street metered parking, and a median that restricts left turns. These changes mitigate the current rather serious traffic conflicts and congestion by improving traffic flow and safety for all road users. The business has chosen to use a hot button issue to solicit push back on this safety improvement project – THIS PROJECT IS ABOUT SAFE AND EQUITABLE ACESS and IMPROVING OVERALL STREET SAFETY FOR EVERYONE! We love and support our local businesses, but we are extremely disappointed in this one for this smear campaign. Parking must NEVER, EVER outweigh safety improvements. 

This project exceeded our hopes for Stewart & Pennsylvania as it was identified in the Bike Action Plan and the Pedestrian Action Plan. WE LOVE IT. It will finally provide a needed north/south bike connection, pedestrian improvements, improved – safer north/south connections to EXPO and improved safe routes to schools, parks and local businesses! There are almost always tradeoffs when streets are reimagined to incorporate and improve equity and safety as a priority. Please join us in support of this project by taking the short survey – it really only takes a few minutes. 

Click to take the Survey

About:

Stewart & Pennsylvania Safety Enhancement

The City of Santa Monica’s Stewart & Pennsylvania Safety Enhancement Project will enhance safety and access to/from the Expo 26th Street/Bergamot Station, and address safety issues identified as part of the City’s Take the Friendly Road campaign. The project seeks to enhance the safety and comfort for pedestrians and bicyclists along Stewart Street between Colorado and Kansas, and Pennsylvania Avenue between 26th Street and Stewart Street The safety enhancements include:

  • Enhancement of the existing bikelane to a protected bikeway along Stewart Street from Kansas to Colorado/Yale. 
  • Intersection safety enhancements at Stewart Street/Colorado/Yale and Stewart/Nebraska making crossings easier to navigate for pedestrian/bicyclists 
  • Add new sidewalks and pedestrian scale lighting along Pennsylvania Avenue, between 26th Street and Stewart Street
  • Add Curb Extension and new curb ramps

This project is part of an on-going citywide effort to enhance safety for people that walk, bike, or take transit. 

Please do let us know if you have any questions. Stay tuned for future updates and Action Alerts!
Thank you in advance!

Open House: Stewart / Pennsylvania Bike & Pedestrian Project

1 Reply

Please join us at an Open House hosted by City of Santa Monica for the Stewart and Pennsylvania Avenue Bike and Pedestrian Improvement project. There are two dates you can attend, December 14th or December 18th. There is also an interactive map to review and provide comments online. We were excited to give input to help shape the project to date and look forward to community input to help further build a project that will best serve equitable mobility in a safer, healthy and active Santa Monica. Together we can create a safe and friendly community for everyone.

Project Goal:
Walk & Bike Pedestrian improvements for Stewart and Pennsylvania Avenues

This project aims to make improvements that will connect local neighborhoods to transit facilities, bikeways, schools, parks, and employment opportunities. The Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE), Bicycle Action Plan (BAP), Bergamot Area Plan, and Pedestrian Action Plan all identify Stewart Street and Pennsylvania Avenue to include safety enhancements for pedestrians and bicyclists of all ages and abilities. This project plans to implement those improvements.

Project Elements:
•  Add new sidewalks, and pedestrian scale lighting on Pennsylvania Avenue between 26th Street and Stewart Street.
•  Enhance bike facility to a protected bikeway on Stewart Street between Colorado Avenue and Kansas Avenue to accommodate riders of all ages and abilities.
•  Enhance intersections at Stewart/Nebraska and Colorado/Yale.

We encourage you to check out the interactive map to review the project and provide comment.
Upcoming open house information session flyers:
•  Virginia Avenue Park Library Annex Saturday, December 14, 2019 from 2:30 PM – 5:00 PM
•  Edison Language Academy Wednesday, December 18, 2019 from 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

TELL THE GOVERNOR TO SIGN THE COMPLETE STREETS BILL TODAY!

Leave a reply

Santa Monica Spoke joined CalBike and 80+ organizations in support in support of Complete Streets Bill SB 127. Collectively we believe that local streets should include safe space for people who walk, bike or scoot, not just fast-moving cars. We have support from major cities as well as rural/suburban, along with endorsements from elected officials. Many of you have been posting, retweeting, blogging, and putting out action alerts. This has resulted in hundreds of calls and nearly 2500 emails to the Governor’s office. 

If you agree, please email Governor Newsom and ask him to sign the Complete Streets Bill, SB 127. This bill will require Caltrans to serve the interests of all road users when it repairs or repaves local streets it controls.

Caltrans has resisted this bill. Governor Newsom needs to hear from you that you want Complete Streets today!

SB 127 has been sitting on the Governor’s desk waiting for a signature (and attention among all the rest of the headliners) – at this point we know he is hearing about the issue and may be briefed as early as tomorrow.  But the Caltrans fiscal impact issue still looms. While Calbike and Coalition partners have provided information to counter the Caltrans inflated estimate and the Dept of Finance flawed analysis, we still have convincing to do, especially pointing to the degree of need. 

Time for a big push directed at the Governor. There are multiple posts on the CalBike twitter page you can retweet, or create your own as some partners have done (thanks, Transform!). Please tag  @CAgovernor @GavinNewsom and @ScottWiener, and #SB127 and #completestreets.

Tell Governor Newsom to sign SB 127, the Complete Streets Bill. 

The more people who email Newsom, the more he’ll know that the people of California are holding him to account when he says “If anyone is wondering if climate change is real, come to California.”

(Feel free to customize the email with your own experience of riding and walking on Caltrans streets!)

Click here to send your email to Gov. Newsome today!

Support Complete Streets Bill Call Gov. Newsom now!

Leave a reply
Thank you to all of you who emailed Governor Newsom and asked him to sign the Complete Streets Bill!
Now, we’re joining California Bicycle Coalition and safe streets partners in ramping up the pressure to pass
this bill for safer biking and walking on local streets that Caltrans controls.

Caltrans is too often an obstacle when local communities try to create livable streets.
Please call Gov. Newsom and ask him to sign SB 127, the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill.
Call (916) 445-2841 right now!

State your name, zip code, and that you are calling to urge the governor to support SB 127.
Here are some additional talking points:
• SB 127 is the most-cost effective way to make our streets safer.
• SB 127 is a sensible law that will require Caltrans to follow its own Complete Streets policies. 
• If you are serious about tackling climate change, we have to make it easier and safer to bike, walk,
and take transit. SB 127 will do all that.

Caltrans is too often an obstacle when local communities try to create livable streets. 
Tell Governor Newsom to sign SB 127 for safer streets.
Call him at (916) 445-2841 now.

Thank you!
P.S. Every call makes a difference. Please call Governor Newsom now at (916) 445-2841.