Editor:
You need to really understand what is planned on Lincoln by attending a workshop, read the written materials, and, more importantly, walk along Lincoln.
The priority bus lane for peak times will NOT take away from the existing two lanes of traffic. It would only be in operation in the existing parking lane. It will stop buses from having to disrupt traffic as they pull in and out of bus stops. It will stop the “zoomers”, who use the empty parking lane as a speed lane when the other two lanes are congested. These drivers are not planning on turning right, since they just want to race the other cars in the travel lanes: they want to win at any cost even if it disrupts others! The near accidents are numerous when the light turns green at intersections, or where there is an infrequently encountered parked car! The number of cars parked on Lincoln in the heavy northbound A.M. and southbound P.M. commute are marginal. Of the over 100 parking spots on the west side, less than 15 are used in the P.M. commute. And, there is ample side street parking.
Bikes? The 12 foot bus priority lane will be demarcated by a solid white line. In off peak times, this gives bikes about 5 feet of an “unmarked” lane to navigate more safely than today when bicyclists use either the street, or, illegally, the sidewalk, the most common “bike lane” on Lincoln. Most bikers will be able to traverse the entire length of Lincoln in Santa Monica without interfering with buses, as the buses will likely only run in the dedicated lane a few hours each morning and evening.
So, nothing is being taken away from the predominant, single occupant cars on Lincoln. Quite frankly, if you want to harness your displeasure and seek a constructive outcome, please encourage the LADOT to de-bottleneck Lincoln between the Santa Monica border and the Marina Freeway. That will truly make traffic flow with less gridlock in Santa Monica!
Medians? Turning cars not only slow traffic, but they also create a variety of safety issues. Medians reduce these potential issues. The 1.25 miles of Lincoln being discussed is about 6,500 feet long. The options of 1,000 feet or 2,000 feet of medians are actually too short for many. The vote in the LiNC Plan workshop on Aug. 6 was 2 to 1 for the longer median. If a longer median option were offered, it might be even more popular. Public Safety concerns (emergency vehicle access) preclude a continuous median.
Crosswalks? The proposed three crosswalk locations would have warning lights actuated by pedestrians. If you walk Lincoln between Pico and Ocean Park, you will notice that when the lights at these two cross streets stop Lincoln traffic there is a period of almost no traffic in either direction between these intersections. That is when crosswalk lights could stop traffic, however light it is.
I’d be happy to walk Lincoln with you to illustrate the real problems on Lincoln.
Roger Swanson
Lincoln Blvd. Task Force
PS: I worked for an oil company for ten years in the 1970’s and I was in a 5-person car pool to downtown LA when there were no public transportation options. It can be done!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Thanks for the good laugh. Don’t get me wrong, I grasp that Lincoln is a nightmare, but the ideas put forward to fix it would only make things worse.
First off, what is going to stop someone who uses ‘the parking lane’ illegally from not doing this when it becomes a bus only lane? Much like 98.2% of bike riders at stop signs in Santa Monica, there will be no stopping this behavior. The idea is really silly. Likewise, we all know the bus that heads south in the AM will get stuck in the drive-thru Starbucks line, and there is a good chance that the one that goes north could get stuck in the McDonalds line. Also, where is this ample side street parking? Maybe a few spots here and there, but most streets on the North side of Lincoln turn to permit parking very quick. If you wanted to visit a place such as TRiP or that new Noodle Bar by Taco Bell, parking is limited.
Perhaps the most ridiculous idea in all of this is getting rid of the left hand turn lanes. Here is something I assume no one has thought of. When SMC starts up, it can take upwards of 20 minutes to get from the Cloverfield exit on the 10 to 11th street. A trick the locals use is to exit at Lincoln and take any of the several left hand turns found between Pico and Ocean Park up to avoid the SMC mess. They don’t create more traffic; in fact they help prevent traffic at the overcrowded intersections of the earlier mentioned Pico and Ocean Park. But hey, let’s throw some trees along the street so our homeless pals can defecate into them once they close down Haggen.
I am all for more crosswalks across Lincoln, but you have left out one crucial piece of information. There is a stoplight between Pico and Ocean Park at Pearl. So when you say that traffic spots when Pico/Ocean Park turn red, that’s not exactly true. Since you are offering up walks of Lincoln, I invite you to come running with me at some point so you can discover that the only way to safely cross Lincoln between Pico and Ocean Park is when the light at Pearl turns red.
Sadly the way Southern California is designed there is no simple fix for Lincoln. The fact that 23rd/Walgrove is now a parking lot a majority of the day is proof that we simply have too many people traveling poorly planned roads. We could rip the entire thing out and build a five lane freeway and it would still feel like the 405 at rush hour. Perhaps instead of medians and crosswalks, we could come together as a city and do the smart thing and build an underground subway from our brand new Metro Station down to LAX? That would relieve traffic AND help the environment while giving all the homeless who call Lincoln home a place to stay.
Bravo!