This past week, Q-line asked:
A pilot project that converted a stretch of Ocean Park Boulevard from four lanes to two is currently being studied by city officials. Some say the new configuration helps keep pedestrians safe while others believe it creates more traffic. Do you think Ocean Park Boulevard should be kept to two lanes or should it be restored to four?
Here are your responses:
“Talk about a no-brainer. It should definitely be returned to four lanes. And while you are making changes, would you please get rid of the so-called ‘traffic engineers’ that have screwed up the already difficult traffic big time in this city. Let the pedestrians and bike riders move to Bermuda, or some other lovely, less populated place to do their thing.”
“I think that Ocean Park Boulevard should be restored to four lanes. The traffic is unparalleled in my experience. I live on Seventh Street, right off of Ocean Park and there is a line over the hill for much of the day whereas before traffic flowed much better and much easier.”
“Yeah, I think that Ocean Park should be four lanes. It’s ridiculous that there’re two lanes. I can’t even get out of my house up on 18th Street because there’s always a line of cars.”
“I happened to read this week’s Daily Press article by Bill Bauer about city staff doing what they wanted to do and not what the council had said. Hasn’t City Council directed staff to go and install traffic signals at Ocean Park and Euclid, Ocean Park and 16th and Ocean Park and 18th? Wasn’t that done a year or two ago? And staff still refuses to do it for pedestrian safety? That should be done first and then we can decide if we need one or two lanes of traffic. The traffic engineer czar should stop doing what he wants to do and do what City Council tells him to do.”
“They should put it back the way it was, and they should put back the other streets the way they were. All the idiots in charge of traffic in Santa Monica have done nothing but mess it up and make traffic worse than it used to go, because they’re idiots and they should all be fired.”
“Living in the area west of Lincoln Boulevard, I do notice an increased amount of traffic, of people speeding along the side streets, trying to avoid the congestion on Ocean Park Boulevard that’s been created by the one lane coming up through the intersection at Lincoln and then all along the length of Ocean Park up to the school and past it in the little commercial area near 14th and Ocean Park. It does seem that we do need to have the four lanes returned, and if people take up speeding on Ocean Park, then the police just have to give them speeding tickets.”
“The head of traffic planning should be sent on a broken tricycle back to New York City. Our City Council plan was to slow traffic so people would stop and shop. Their thinking was that if your car is stuck in traffic, you might pull over and spend money at our stores. They’ve done this by reducing speed limits, eliminating lanes, adding bumps and swerving roads and adding stop signs. What this really did was cause traffic congestion, smog, a waste of gas, noise and angry and frustrated drivers.”
“It should stay the same. As a resident who bicycles and travels by car, I must say that this configuration is the least stressful for bike riders. First time in 30 years I have felt safe riding on Ocean Park Boulevard, as well as driving a vehicle making left turns; I don’t have that anxious feeling that I am going to be rear-ended or slow down traffic. So with this configuration, discounting the need for an artery for commuters and such for locals and residents in the neighborhood, the left turn lanes and the bicycle lane I think are the most glaring positive impacts that this reconfiguration has had as well as the fact that traffic is slower and pedestrians are that much safer.”
“Restore the four lanes on Ocean Park Boulevard. Install traffic lights. The latter should have been done right away.”
“The people who changed the traffic pattern on Ocean Park Boulevard are idiots. They really have no clue what’s going on. The traffic is backed up over the hill at all times of day, access is ridiculous and the parking there is stupid, and it really needs to go back to four lanes so that traffic can flow. And also, there really needs to be some turn lights. I mean, whoever’s in charge of traffic here is ridiculous.”
“Definitely two lanes with a lower speed limit. It’s so much safer for everyone. You must remember, there are at least four schools nearby and a library. So what if rush hour traffic backs up? Ocean Park commuters can wait. People can make their trip during off-peak hours. It’s great for bicyclists and for people parking on Ocean Park Boulevard. Sunset Park shouldn’t have to become a freeway for commuters. Keep the two lanes.”
“I think that Ocean Park Boulevard should be four lanes. I’ve never seen such bad traffic in my life as I have since they made it two lanes; it’s a complete nightmare most of the time.”
“It took me 22 minutes today to get from 31st and Ocean Park Boulevard to Lincoln Boulevard. I say yes, restore it to four lanes.”
