After a year of substantial debate regarding Santa Monica’s road infrastructure (including the reconfiguration of 17th Street, restrictions along Wilshire and the tragic death of a cyclist in the Wilmont neighborhood), Council were briefed on the City’s overall plans for bike/pedestrian safety this week including pleas from local transportation activists to do more to protect non-car users on local roads.
Following an unexpectedly lengthy round of public input that put Council behind schedule quite early on, Mobility Manager Jason Kligier, gave Council an update on its Vision Zero and Bike Action plans. And in fact, much of that public comment was on this very subject.
Connor Webb presented a short video recorded using a GoPro-style bike cam to everyone gathered in chambers that showed multiple infractions of cars crossing into bike lanes with little or, more commonly, no warning whatsoever.
"I just wanted to provide some visual evidence to back up some statistics that we know … UCLA commissioned a study in 2019 … They found that 48% of respondents cited a lack of protective infrastructure as a main reason they felt discouraged to cycle, it was second only to dangerous driving behavior and speeding … And so I urge everyone here to support and expedite and expand the bike action plan," Webb said.
Back in November of last year councilmembers voted unanimously to strengthen the City’s safety commitment to reduce road-related injuries, an issue brought to the forefront of resident’s minds following the tragic fatal crash involving a cyclist on Idaho Avenue.
Tania Mooser died at 19th and Idaho in October and Paul Postel survived a crash at the same location also in November, albeit with four broken and two bruised ribs. Since then, that intersection has been made a four-way stop.
"Both the public right of way and private development are rapidly changing in Santa Monica and our infrastructure needs to meet the demands that are being placed on it," Kligier said.
According to the information presented at the meeting, bicycle crashes were down in 2023 to a level much closer to 2021. Pedestrian accidents in 2023 were down from 2022, but remain much higher than they were in 2020.
Modifications to major intersections, some of which have already been implemented, include corner islands, forward stop bar, yield markings, vehicle stop bar, red curbs, green intersection markings, pedestrian lighting and new pavement.
Councilmember Gleam Davis inquired about the enforcement of violations by motor vehicles. "We saw a video tonight, and we’ve certainly personally observed it, where you see cars parking in the bike lanes, which of course, then force the cyclists to go out dangerously into traffic … Have ongoing conversations about enforcement efforts with regard specifically to cycling and pedestrian safety infrastructure?"
"As directed by council [we have] begun ongoing monthly meetings between Dept of Transport, PD and the Office of Communications to coordinate our work. And we’re also exploring the potential of doing a pilot program to use cameras to do monitoring of bike lanes. It wouldn’t be issuing any citations, but it’s just kind of testing the technology to see if there’s promise here," Kligier responded.
Davis also asked if anything was being undertaken on Lincoln Blvd "because we’ve sadly had some unfortunate interactions including a pedestrian death recently," she said.
"We’ll be seeing some changes to organize the traffic flow at the intersection of Lincoln and Ocean Park boulevards … That was one of our top 10 priority intersections from the first Vision Zero plan and … there has been some money that’s been received from various sources to roll out components of that project," Kligier said, adding, "I know that we don’t have all the money to roll out the full project that was originally envisioned. So it’s going to be implemented in phases."
Councilmember Oscar de la Torre touched upon an extremely nuanced issue and, referencing Webb’s video from earlier, asked, "There was the video that showed cars going into the bike lane, it seems like the engineering is not the best … are we addressing all those?"
Avoiding the significantly larger conversational issue of when vehicles do in fact have to cross into bike lanes and indeed just how effective painting a green strip on the tarmac actually is without additional protection, Kligier said, "The protected bike lane network that was adopted by council was developed with safety and crash history in mind, as well as connections to destinations and making sure that our schools and parks and communities are well served. And then we are using our Vision Zero data analysis that we’re updating every five years or so to prioritize where our next suite of projects will be focused."
scott.snowden@smdp.com
