Speed limits on more than 30 miles of Santa Monica streets will be lowered, following unanimous approval by the Santa Monica City Council on Tuesday.
These reductions are the results of a speed survey conducted earlier this year to ensure the speed limits remain valid. The survey, conducted from Jan. 27 through Jul. 29, includes measurement of vehicular speeds along roadway segments to determine the speed of a majority of drivers, which is the most effective attribute in establishing speed limits.
The study recommended only one increase in speed limit, from 25 to 30 miles per hour, on a 0.3-mile segment of California Avenue. The City will begin rolling out new signage exhibiting the updated speed limits this fall.
The motion was made by Councilmember Jesse Zwick, himself an avid cyclist and seconded by Mayor Phil Brock and, as one would expect, passed with no objections whatsoever. Interestingly, among all of the proposed 30 changes, there is one that features an increase in speed limit and that’s on the California Incline, which will be raised from 25 miles per hour to 30.
"On the incline we don't have the proximity to a park or pedestrian generator," explained City Traffic Engineer Mia Silver, adding, "The pedestrian and bikeway is physically separated. The park is physically separated. That roadway segment connects a very high speed facility, the PCH, up into our city and balances the need for reasonable and appropriate speeds."
The proposed speed limit changes support the city’s Vision Zero goal of eliminating fatal and severe injury crashes on city streets by improving safety for all roadway users.
Council adopted Vision Zero in February 2016. Unsafe speed is the second most common violation cited in fatal and severe crashes in the city, at 14% of the total. Crashes at slower speeds are less likely to result in fatalities and the application of reasonable and safe speed limits allows for effective enforcement of speed limits throughout the city.
Zwick raised an interesting point about maintaining a more effective set of statistics, saying, "I don't have access to the most recent data [but] pre 2020, there were around 40 initiated traffic stops a day, and that number is down to around eight at least, last I checked. So I'm just curious if we could have some reporting in the future."
Captain Roberto Villegas of the Santa Monica Police Department was present to address remarks exactly like this and responded, "I don't have the specific numbers from 2020 to compare, but I can tell you in ‘23, we had approximately 185 [speeding] citations for the year to date [and] for 2024, we're just shy of 1000. So there has been some increase in that area."
Villegas reiterated that figure was for speeding only, given the nature of this ordinance and that he did not have citation numbers for other types of traffic law infringements, which prompted Councilmember Gleam Davis to suggest some form of location-based monitoring.
"I do think that reporting on the enforcement is important … If you could even do a geo-mapping of where the enforcement actions are … So you could say to people in the various neighborhoods, ‘See, we are enforcing it here.’ You just might not be observing it. I think having some sort of geolocation data, or even if you could break it down by neighborhood, I think would actually be very helpful."
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.
"Reducing vehicle speeds on our roads is vital to create safer conditions for getting around in our city," Department of Transportation Director Anuj Gupta said in a statement. "It is one of the many ways Santa Monica is creating a street network that is more safe, connected and attractive for all roadway users."
The ordinance will be adopted 30 days after the second reading, which is anticipated for September 10. A full list of approved speed adjustments, recommended in consultation with the Santa Monica Police Department, is as follows:
Reduction to 35 mph
• Olympic Boulevard between 11th Street and Centinela Avenue — from 40 to 35 mph
Reduction to 30 mph
• Lincoln Boulevard between I-10 Freeway and Pico Boulevard — from 35 to 30 mph
• Ocean Park Boulevard between 23rd Street and Centinela Avenue — from 35 to 30 mph
• Pico Boulevard between Lincoln Boulevard and Centinela Avenue — from 35 to 30 mph
Reduction to 25 mph
• 2nd Street between Wilshire Boulevard and Colorado Avenue — from 30 to 25 mph
• 4th Street between Colorado Avenue and Pico Boulevard — from 30 to 25 mph
• 11th Street between San Vicente Boulevard and Marine Street — from 30 to 25 mph
• 14th Street between San Vicente Boulevard and Ashland Avenue — from 30 to 25 mph
• 20th Street between Wilshire and Pico boulevards — from 30 to 25 mph
• 26th Street between San Vicente and Cloverfield boulevards — from 30 to 25 mph
• Colorado Avenue between Ocean Avenue and 17th Street — from 30 to 25 mph
• Dewey Street between Robson Avenue and 23rd Street — from 30 to 25 mph
• Main Street between Colorado Avenue and Pico Boulevard — from 30 to 25 mph
• Marine Street between Lincoln Boulevard and 17th Street — from 30 to 25 mph
• Montana Avenue between Ocean Avenue and Stanford Street — from 30 to 25 mph
• Neilson Way between Pico Boulevard and Marine Street — from 30 to 25 mph
• Ocean Avenue between the north city limit and Pico Boulevard — from 30 to 25 mph
• Ocean Park Boulevard between Barnard Way and 23rd Street — from 30 to 25 mph
• Pico Boulevard between Appian Way and Lincoln Boulevard — from 35 to 25 mph
• Stewart Street between Colorado Avenue and Pico Boulevard — from 30 to 25 mph
• Wilshire Boulevard between Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Boulevard — from 30 to 25 mph
Reduction to 20 mph
• 6th Street between Pico Boulevard and Pier Avenue — from 30 to 20 mph
• 20th Street between Pico and Ocean Park boulevards — from 25 to 20 mph
• Appian Way between Pacific Coast Highway and Bay Street — from 25 to 20 mph
• Ashland Avenue between Neilson Way and Lincoln Boulevard — from 25 to 20 mph
• Barnard Way between Hollister Avenue and Neilson Way — from 25 to 20 mph
• California Avenue between Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Boulevard — from 25 to 20 mph
• Michigan Avenue between Lincoln Boulevard and 19th Street — from 25 to 20 mph
• Washington Avenue between Ocean Avenue and Stanford Street — from 25 to 20 mph
Increase to 30 mph
• California Avenue between Pacific Coast Highway and Ocean Avenue (also known as the California Incline) — from 25 to 30 mph
scott.snowden@smdp.com
