Transit Mall Gets Mixed Reviews

By Blair Clarkson
Staff Writer

March 8 -- When two women lugging armfuls of gift-laden shopping bags stroll shoulder-to-shoulder down the roomy 16-foot sidewalks along Santa Monica Boulevard and pass crowds waiting at bus stops without slowing, dodging or uttering a single “excuse me,” City planners must smile.

When a Big Blue Bus travels down its own dedicated lane shuttling people to and from Downtown without having to weave through traffic, transit administrators must feel a sense of accomplishment.

These scenarios were among the anticipated benefits of the much-ballyhooed Downtown Transit Mall project – the $15 million renovation of a five-block stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard and Broadway aimed at creating pedestrian-friendly streets that would coexist with vehicular traffic.

By widening sidewalks, planting new trees, carving out dedicated bus lanes, erecting stylish bus stop shelters and adding benches, street lights, bike racks and drinking fountains, City officials predicted the mall would promote a less “car-centric” and more “pedestrian-friendly” environment.

“It’s been a great success,” said Mayor Richard Bloom. “Wider sidewalks are really enhancing the pedestrian experience and we’re seeing an increase in sidewalk dining that was hoped for and anticipated.

“In terms of circulation on the streets, there’s less conflict between vehicular traffic and the buses,” Bloom said. “I do believe that it has been a positive addition to the Downtown experience.”

Yet for all the improvements, many City officials and business owners continue to disagree about the merits and successes of the transit mall, which opened in June 2002 after 18 months of construction.

In order to widen the sidewalks and devote a lane to bus traffic, the City had to eliminate 77 on-street parking spaces and two traffic lanes in an already cramped Downtown, creating what many feel is a bottleneck on Santa Monica Boulevard, one of the area’s most-traveled roads.

During most weekdays, and especially on weekends, a seemingly unending line of cars routinely stretches from Ocean Avenue past Lincoln Boulevard and beyond. It serves as a stark contrast to then-Mayor Michael Feinstein’s prediction that the transit mall would help traffic flow more smoothly and decrease congestion Downtown.

“It’s just not working,” said Bayside Chair John Warfel. “The negative effect on the traffic flow on Santa Monica Boulevard has been much greater than predicted.

“People coming in, particularly from out of the area, are still using Santa Monica Boulevard as the main access point,” he said, “and because of its reduced capacity, it’s a bottleneck.”

“It has really been a negative in terms of addressing the traffic issue Downtown,” said Bayside District consultant Rob York. “It reduced some of the road capacity on key intersections, and I’m not sure that the changes in traffic flow that were supposed to come out of the traffic mall development actually occurred.”

But transportation officials counter that the bus lane makes it easier for visitors to get around, a key goal of the project.

“Overall, I think it’s working out very well,” agreed Joe Stitcher, assistant director of transit operations for the Big Blue Bus. “With the transit-only lane, we’re able to get through Downtown much more rapidly. The widened sidewalks have met the goal of separating people waiting for the bus from people traversing the area.”

Stitcher also noted that buses no longer have to deal with delivery trucks stopped at curbs or in the middle of Broadway, and the new lofted awnings make locating bus stops easier for commuters.

Although the Big Blue Bus has not yet determined whether ridership has increased since the mall’s completion, “the anecdotal information we get from the (bus) drivers is that the transit mall is working,” Stitcher said. “We’re not getting complaints from them.”

Merchants also have appreciated the revamped walkways and aesthetic improvements that draw shoppers and tourists to their businesses from the popular and crowded Promenade.

“It’s definitely more pedestrian-friendly,” said Robert Stephenson, who manages One, a relatively new clothing store at 332 Santa Monica Boulevard. “And we get a fair amount of foot traffic” as a result.

Stephenson credits the success of his store to the steady flow of shoppers from the Promenade. “We’re half a block from a fortune and all the foot traffic you could imagine.”

“Everybody loves what they did to the streets and the sidewalks,” agreed Todd Swift, gallery coordinator at Taos Indian Trader Company, 403 Santa Monica Boulevard. “The trees are really beautiful and make the area look good.”

However, not everyone has been as quick to praise the transit mall.
Attorney Tom Larmore, who filed suit in 2001 to delay initial construction of the transit mall, still feels “the City had not done an adequate job of studying the traffic impact.”

“It seems to me that traffic has been made a lot worse because of it,” said Larmore, a partner in the prominent local firm Harding Larmore Kutcher & Kozal.

The mall may also be costing the City money. York noted that because of increased traffic on the narrowed streets, several intersections “now have (police) officers directing traffic when that was really not required in the past.”

City officials disagree. “The police officers were a response to general congestion in the Downtown area,” countered Lucy Dyke, who heads the City’s Transportation Management Division, “and not just because of the transit mall.”

Dyke added that at busy intersections around the Promenade, where pedestrians are less likely to comply with signals, there are few better alternatives than traffic officers.

But some Bayside officials think adding traffic cops isn’t enough. They believe adding signs to direct traffic away from Santa Monica Boulevard and onto Arizona Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard, where the volume of cars has not increased, could alleviate some of the gridlock.

“I think it’s an issue of signage,” said Bayside Board member Wally Marks “I know on specific days during the week traffic backs up to Fifth, Sixth or Seventh, while Wilshire and Arizona don’t have much traffic. I think some better signage will help.”

“People from outside the immediate area do not know that there are other ways to get into Downtown,” Warfel said. “There’s quite a bit more work to be done.”

Mayor Bloom countered that traffic congestion is not unique to the Downtown. “Traffic has gotten worse everywhere,” Bloom said. “I don’t think there’s a reason to believe that traffic is worse Downtown because of the transit mall.

Most of the traffic we have is due to circumstances largely out of our control.”
Increased congestion along Santa Monica Boulevard and Broadway may not be the only problem plaguing the two-year-old transit mall. Local merchants worry that the new benches and clusters of chairs in front of their businesses have become resting places and beds for the homeless.

“In theory they’re a great idea,” said Stephenson, referring to the trio of metal chairs facing his store window. “You can sit in front of the store and have a cup of coffee or wait for friends who are shopping.”

“But in reality they become havens for transients to sit down all day long,” he said. “It drives business away.”

Ruth Elwell, who owns Ye Olde King’s Head on the corner of Second Street and Santa Monica Boulevard, refers to the vagrancy in front of her restaurant as a “constant battle” that her hosts and servers must fight throughout the day.

“Ironically the benches have brought more homeless from the Promenade to the transit mall,” said Elwell, as she pointed to a transient rummaging through a trash can outside her front door.

“If word gets out on the street that things have been made nice and comfortable with the benches,” she added, “where would you go?”

Yet in spite of the homeless problem and her concerns that MTA buses are not adhering to the dedicated lanes used by the Big Blue Bus, Elwell still feels the transit mall turned out well in the end.

“Other than the traffic jams, I think they did a good job on the project,” she said.

Rafigh Pooya, owner of the Caspian Grill, 205 Broadway, expressed disappointment over the City’s failure to adequately promote the new transit mall, and says his business has not improved in the two years since its completion.

“Since the transit mall took effect,” he said, “I encounter very few people who talk about it.”

Indeed, just outside Pooya’s restaurant a woman walking briskly in the direction of the Promenade was asked what she thought of the new transit mall.

“I don’t know,” she responded, “Where is it?”

The Chamber of Commerce – which was flooded with complaints from business owners prior to the sidewalk upheaval two years ago – reports that now there are few criticisms of the transit mall.

“We don’t hear that much from businesses about it,” said Chamber Executive Director Kathy Dodson. “We do have some people who feel it hasn’t helped traffic Downtown, but that’s pretty much it. It’s not a huge topic of conversation.”

Two years since the completion of the $15 million Downtown Transit Mall, several questions remain: Was it all worth it? Has it been a success?

“Elements of it have worked, and elements of it have certainly failed to meet expectations,” said York.

“The best characteristics of the transit mall are that you have wider sidewalks that allow for outdoor dining, greater pedestrian access, and it is certainly more attractive,” he added. “But the downside is that it’s caused some traffic problems.”

“Overall I think it’s been a success,” said Stitcher. But “it’s really too early to tell” if more people are using the buses to get Downtown.

“The change was good,” agreed Swift, but “traffic is more congested.”

“It remains to be seen” whether the transit mall will be a success or failure, said Pooya, who labeled the project a “work in progress.”

“The verdict is still out.”

Bayside Board member Marks thinks its time to look forward now.

“It’s in place. Let’s encourage people to use it,” Marks said. “It’s a good investment. It makes a lot of sense. I hope retailers make the best of it.”