Local Officials React to Plan to Turn Pico, Olympic into One-way Streets

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

April 17 -- One-way boulevards stretching from Downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica could significantly reduce the rush-hour commuter crawl, according to a new study, but the plan could face a variety of roadblocks inside the beachside city.

Commissioned by County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, the report released Monday found that transforming Olympic and Pico boulevards into one-way streets could increase capacity on the roads -- which currently carry some 106,000 vehicles a day -- by as much as 20 percent.

Under the proposed plan -- which would need to be approved by Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Los Angeles -- traffic would move in a clockwise direction, with vehicles flowing west on Pico and east on Olympic.

County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and consultant Allyn D. Rifkin (left) unveil plan. (Photo courtesy of Zev Yaroslavsky)

However, while Santa Monica officials are eager to hear more about the proposal as details are flushed out in the coming year, many said important obstacles will need to be overcome to drive the proposal into the seaside City.

"It's certainly worth exploring… and, you hear people say it a lot, but it's true; the issues facing Santa Monica are unique," said City Council member Pam O'Connor, who is first vice chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).

The Mayor and City Traffic engineers also said any proposal to alleviate gridlock in the short term needs consideration.

"I think it's really interesting, and we should certainly leave no stone unturned," said Mayor Richard Bloom.

From keeping streets such as Pico Boulevard pedestrian friendly and stopping traffic from driving through neighborhoods, Santa Monica will face a variety of impediments similar to those in the rest of Los Angeles.

"Cut-through traffic has been very sensitive issues for both the Pico neighborhood and Sunset Park Neighborhood," Bloom said of the neighborhoods surrounding the designated streets.

However there are unique challenges posed by the project, local officials said.

A primary concern for O'Connor is the challenge posed by the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) as it crosses the beachside city.

Unlike in Los Angeles, the freeway runs directly between the two boulevards, splitting them and creating a man-made barrier between the north and southbound traffic, she said.

"In some ways, that should eliminate cut-through traffic in that area," O’Connor said. "But then other areas where you can cross over could be more impacted."

Already traffic backs up along the handful of streets that pass under and over the I-10, O'Connor said.

Plans to bring light rail from Downtown LA into Santa Monica by 2015 could also complicate the proposal, especially if changes to the streets take place concurrent with construction of the rail line, which is scheduled to begin in 2010.

Currently the proposed light rail route runs parallel to the freeway between Olympic and Pico Boulevards.

Raised center dividers on both boulevards also could pose design problems, City officials said.

"Very clearly, there will be some engineering challenges," Bloom said.

"They spent years changing the Pico streetscape to make it more pedestrian (friendly)… and I don't think that would be reengineered," O'Connor said. "How do we make the roads there efficient and balance the ability to cross the street?"

City traffic engineers say that with careful planning, Santa Monica and other cities could possibly find solutions to the design challenges.

"This proposal… is not about prioritizing autos over people," said Lucy Dyke, who manages the City's Traffic Department. "It envisions using the street that is already allocated to autos more efficiently, not necessarily making it any less walkable."

In addition to increasing capacity, the proposed plan -- which includes no left turn lanes -- could simplify traffic, according to Dyke.

"It could be a little easier to cross streets and manage efficient signal operations," she said. "One-way streets necessarily result in some longer trips for motorists, but they make it easier to manage the flow because we don't have to prioritize both directions, and there are fewer conflicts at intersections.

“People tend to drive faster on them if they are not congested," she said.

Other issues that would need to be addressed would be uprooting the row of mature trees growing along the center of Olympic Boulevard, as well as accommodating the flow of emergency vehicles.

The proposed changes would likely increase the flow of bus operations as well, with two dedicated bus lanes carved out on each boulevard, the study said.