Category Archives: LUCE

Pedestrian Action Plan Community Open House: Sept 22nd

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Communities designed for the comfort and safety of people walking are more livable and safer for all users, including people on bikes. Please join the Planning and Community Development Department for a special meeting with the Planning Commission at a COMMUNITY OPEN HOUSE to discuss Santa Monica’s first Pedestrian Action Plan and learn important facts about walking in the city today.
At this event, help us shape priorities for improvements to create a world-class walking environment.

WHEN: MONDAY, SEPT. 22 2014 at 5:30-8PM
WHERE: SANTA MONICA MAIN LIBRARY MULTIPURPOSE ROOM, 2nd FLOOR
601 SANTA MONICA BOULEVARD

Please join us to discuss:

  • PEDESTRIAN SAFETY: preview ways the Pedestrian Action Plan seeks to improve crosswalks and sidewalks.
  • COMFORT AND HEALTH: learn about how walking supports a sustainable lifestyle and enhances community well-being.
  • EDUCATION: help staff refine proposed programs to educate drivers, cyclists and pedestrians on sharing streets.

Your input will inform this innovative Plan focused on making walking safer and more enjoyable in Santa Monica! 

Valet bike parking provided. Car parking available on-site. Directly served by the Big Blue Bus lines 7 & 10; lines 1, 2, 3, 8, and 9 also stop within a short walking distance.

http://smgov.net/Departments/PCD/Plans/Pedestrian-Action-Plan/

Big Blue Bus Community meetings: Help prepare for EXPO Phase 2 Connections

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Big Blue Bus -<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> Email Newsletter Header Image

Some of you may have participated in meetings earlier this year to help identify priorities for upcoming service changes that are designed to best integrate transit and Expo Rail when Expo Phase 2 stations open in early 2016.

Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus (BBB) has been collecting input on an Expo Integration Study, an evaluation of potential connections to Metro Rail Expo Line Phase 2 stations scheduled to open in 2016. As part of the study, BBB is been hosting a series of community workshops. Our input is important as routes and iterations could impact our current and future proposed bicycle facilities and help inform opportunities that coordinate bicycle and bus route integration with equitable designs that support the most potential users. Safe pedestrian access and Integrating bikes on buses should be an importation part of this equation as it increases our mobility and helps by extending our range at either end of a trip with multi modal connections / options with bikes, busses & Expo light rail.

Big Blue Bus Planning team and consultants at Nelson\Nygaard are pleased to come back with a proposed service plan that they would like to share with you and get your input. As you are already well aware, the expansion of the Expo Line to the Westside will have a significant impact on the BBB service area and will require a new service model with significant changes to many of BBB’s existing routes. The workshops will address bus connections to Expo Line stations as well as the general design of the Big Blue Bus network. Service to Santa Monica, the Westside, UCLA, SMC and other destinations will be discussed.

Tuesday, July 22, 6-8pm
Felicia Mahood Senior Citizen Center,
Community Room 11338 Santa Monica Blvd., LA, 90025
Ride BBB Route 1 or 4.Parking available

Wednesday, July 23, 6-8pm
Civic Auditorium, East Wing 1855 Main St.
RideBBB Routes1,2,3 Parking available at Civic Center Lot

Thursday, July 24, 1-3pm
Santa Monica Main Library, Multi-Purpose Room 601 Santa Monica Blvd.
Ride BBB Routes 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, Rapid 3, Rapid 7 or Rapid 10. Parking is available in the library garage

The same information will be presented at each meeting. 

The Expo Line is projected to carry 64,000 riders per day by the year 2030, but this can only take place if bus connections to stations are made as useful and convenient as possible.  We need your help – BBB would like to get your input as they begin this important phase of service planning for an exciting new future that will make public transit in and out of Santa Monica more accessible and attractive to residents and visitors throughout Los Angeles County.

You may also view information about the service plan and give feedback at any time on the BBB Expo Planning website

These venues are ADA-accessible. Disability and translation accommodation requests should be made at least three days prior to the meetings by calling BBB Customer Service at (310) 451-5444.

Expo Community Workshop_Flyer

Presentation and Feedback on MANGo, Meeting Dec 9th, 7pm

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Community EventSecond opportunity on a presentation of the initial results from the MANGo POP-UP Greenway!

Additionally your support and input is needed to balance efforts of a small yet vocal group from within the Pico Neighborhood Assoc. who are attempting to derail efforts to any experiment of traffic diversion. The input collected from mostly residents during MANGo supports traffic diversion by 55%. It would seem inappropriate to not even entertain this option that received so much support. Traffic diversion is widely accepted as a excellent tool to reduce traffic volumes, congestion and pollution on neighborhood streets and can be accomplished with minimal disruption to those that live in the area. If the neighborhood is willing to accept diversion as a tool (as is indicated in the MANGo results) to help eliminate cut through traffic and move toward having safer healthier streets with less traffic it should at minimum be allowed to be implemented as a test.

Place: Virginia Avenue Park, 2200 Virginia Avenue
Day: Monday, December 9, 2013
Time: 7 pm to 8:30 pm
host: Jason Kligier, AICP | Transportation Planning Associate

Diverters restrict auto access in order to reduce cut-through traffic. They can allow bicyclists full access. Diversion may be necessary if we are to lower traffic counts on Michigan, between 11th and Lincoln, from an outrageous 4200+ cars per day to the more neighborhood scaled 1,000 or less cars per day. With less than 1,000 cars per day, pedestrians, most people on bicycles, including children, can comfortably share the road and result in a quieter, safer and healthier neighborhood.

Santa Monica city staff will present an update on the Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway. The project will enhance Michigan Avenue and nearby streets to become a safe walk/bike route to the beach for this neighborhood and the community.

Community Event   Community Event

Films from the Sept. 21 MANGo Pop-Up Street event:

http://youtu.be/2EQo7iW0NEU
http://youtu.be/L-ry8YB20GQ

Santa Monica poised to lead on Regional Bike Share

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Update: Resolution passed 5-1 to move forward, more after October regional planning forum coordinated by State Assemblyman Richard Bloom.

The Santa Monica City Council included bikeshare in the Bike Action Plan recommendations adopted on November 22, 2011 and designated bikeshare as one of the highest priority projects for Bike Action Plan implementation.

PRELIMINARY Bike Share locationsTonight the next step in the process comes before the City Council, item 8A on the agenda – How will we move the process forward?

Last Spring when then LA Mayor Villaraigosa unexpectedly announced Los Angeles had partnered with Bike Nation to provide Bike Share and thus derailed much of the preliminary work being done in Santa Monica, and the WSCOG to create a regional Bike Share NETWORK. Chair of that committee was then SM Mayor now 50th districts State Assemblyman Richard Bloom (and SM Councilman Kevin McKewon), also actively participating in this process with the WSCOG were City staff from WSCOG City’s (Beverly Hills, Culver City, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and County of Los Angeles) bike advocates, Santa Monica Spoke, WeHoBC and LACBC on a bicycle advisory committee. To put it lightly we were all pretty stunned by the Mayors announcement and the manner the choice was made to say nothing of the then nearly unknown provider.
However – Santa Monica continued moving forward with a close eye on what was happening in Los Angeles. Through the City’s efforts we have secured available grant funds to initiate a bikeshare system totaling $2,764,000. Each granting agency has required steps and timing for grant funds and staff has been coordinating with the agencies. One such hurdle is selecting a provider by this December! Although we do want to move forward – we also want to collaborate and coordinate with Los Angeles and the region so that we establish a truly regional bike share network. Jason at the SM Lookout outlines more on that here

Bike Nation has failed to materialize for a variety of reasons and now we are at a similar point before “LA’s announcement” – making the choice of what operator, and what revenue structure to move forward with.  Assemblyman Richard Bloom sent an invitation to re-convene the discussion on Bike Share with the WSCOG, City Staff, LA Metro and members of our bike advisory committee to meet in October. “To be successful, we have to all be partners” he says in his invitation. Santa Monica is leading the way as they are the only city that currently has money to move forward on a bike share program including stations outside our city limits. In the spirit of collaboration and creating a network that works regionally the City has petitioned an extension for awarding a operator contract so we can include other stake holders in the operator selection and the potential revenue models chosen. In the interim “staff recommends that the Council require any operator bidding for Santa Monica’s bike share program to be able to explain how they would ensure that their system will be interoperable with any future system to be deployed in a neighboring jurisdiction”.
With EXPO coming Bike Share is one way we can support and provide options to reduce auto traffic and congestion. We are excited it is finally getting closer.

Click to view comprehensive Staff Report
You can attend tonights City Council meeting to give input, watch live on CityTV or comment via email

Look for a report on the regional meeting in mid October.

Join us for the region’s first “Pop-Up” street improvement event, “Pop-Up MANGo”!

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MANGO FESTIVAL 2
Please roll up your sleeves and join us for the region’s first “Pop-Up” street improvement event, “Pop-Up MANGo”!
WE NEED VOLUNTEERS !

The Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway (MANGo) Planning and Design team is looking for volunteers for the Pop-Up MANGo event on September 21st, 2013.  This will be a temporary greenway installation and family-friendly festival and it will be the first event of its kind in the region.
Volunteers will have the chance to help out behind the scenes by working in teams to set up and break down the “installations” and assist at the bike valets and at one of the installation stations.  We’ll be spray chalking the pavement, laying out plants and fiber role, and making the street come alive.  This is a great opportunity to take part in cutting edge planning by the City of Santa Monica.
The temporary installations and stations will showcase possible improvements along the corridor such as: roadway calming, curb extensions, enhanced landscaping, and places for neighbors to gather. The temporary demonstrations will be installed on the street, with cones, plants, and other temporary and low-cost markers to help the community visualize what the space can become.
The event itself runs from 11am – 3pm and is free and open to the public. Volunteers are needed during set up, 8am – 11am and break down 3pm – 5pm, as well as during the event itself at the bike valet station and at one of the design stations.

*The team is also looking for videographers to document the event. If you are an interested videographer, please contact ahawkes@melendrez.com *
See below for more information and contact ahawkes@melenedrez.com with questions.

If you are interested in volunteering, please click here to sign up for a time slot:

Thanks and we hope you can join us for this groundbreaking event!

Sincerely,
The Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway (MANGo) Planning and Design team:

City of Santa Monica
Melendrez Landscape Architecture and Urban Design
Community Arts Resources
IBI Group
Santa Monica Spoke

MANGO-Workshop-2-Flyer

CLICK TO VIEW FLYER