CITY HALL — Lincoln Boulevard has been caught in a game of tug-of-war for nearly 14 years.
On one side sits the California state government, which controls the road from asphalt to where the sidewalk meets private property. One the other is City Hall, which is only allowed to plug holes and apply Band-Aid fixes to the broken pavement.
Tonight, a City Council vote will complete a two-year long process that strives to change all that.
The City Council will have the opportunity to approve a resolution accepting responsibility for the section of Lincoln Boulevard, also called Highway 1, which runs from the I-10 Freeway to the southern city limits.
The California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, uses a process called relinquishment that allows it to cede control over roads and the right of way to local agencies when it’s “in the public interest.”
Santa Monica officials have been pushing for control over sections of Lincoln Boulevard since 1996, when City Hall won control over portions of both Lincoln and Santa Monica boulevards.
In 2009, the California Legislature approved a bill greenlighting Santa Monica to assume responsibility for the southern section. That bill became effective Jan. 1, 2010.
Possession comes with a price, but also has significant benefits, said Martin Pastucha, director of Public Works.
Strains on the state budget have caused Caltrans to focus its resources on highways and other high-priority projects, leaving roads like Lincoln Boulevard to languish without repair.
Under the previous arrangement, the Public Works Department had the authority to fill potholes, but major repairs, like sealing the road or adding additional asphalt emulsion, are beyond its purview, Pastucha said.
The results are evident.
“If you drive around the rest of the streets, you’ll see a noticeable difference,” Pastucha said. “It’s not up to the kind of condition that Santa Monica expects its state to be in.”
On a scale of one to 100, where one is the lower end, Santa Monica streets average an 82, putting them in relatively good condition. The sections of Lincoln Boulevard that Santa Monica does not yet control rank 62, according to a city staff report.
It will cost approximately $2.2 million to bring the 1-mile section of road up to snuff and repair the curb, gutter and sidewalk damage that has wreaked havoc on the roadway.
Caltrans isn’t required to pay for those improvements, particularly after responsibility trades hands from state to City Hall, but it is its practice to do so.
That payment will be delayed, but Pastucha believes the money will come through eventually.
“Transportation dollars are programmed out in advance,” Pastucha said. “This relinquishment is relatively new, so they’ll program those dollars in a future year.”
The money comes from the State Highway Operational and Protection Program, or SHOPP.
Caltrans announced a $2.2 billion infusion of funds on Aug. 11, ostensibly to spur job growth and the economy. It will go toward 146 infrastructure improvement projects across the state, but none will be coming to Santa Monica, wrote spokeswoman Kelly Markham in an e-mail.
“Given the state budget deficit, the SHOPP Executive Committee will fund only the highest priority work with the limited funds available and will re-examine funding availability in two years,” Markham wrote. “The Lincoln relinquishment is not high priority.”
The relinquishment will still give Santa Monica control over not only the road, but the public right of ways along it, including sidewalks and buildings, which could have major implications for the visual aesthetic along Lincoln Boulevard.
“It will allow businesses to make façade improvements, and have fewer curb cuts,” Pastucha said, referring to spots where the curb descends into the street so that vehicles can travel it, rather than dropping off abruptly. “It will help it become an inviting place for transit.”
That look was outlined in the 2010 Land Use and Circulation Element, or LUCE, which painted the general feel of boulevards in Santa Monica with broad brush strokes.
City Hall plans to hold a visioning process for Lincoln Boulevard so that residents can have input into the kinds of changes they’d like to see, both in the look of the street and the traffic-calming measures — like tighter lanes and medians — that have become the norm on other streets in the city.
Don’t expect those results any time soon, however. Outreach could begin by fall 2012, and the Planning Department expects it to wrap up by 2015.
Still, it wouldn’t be possible without the relinquishment process, Pastucha said.
“Through this, control rests with the city and its citizens,” he said.
ashley@www.smdp.com
