November 12, 2024 -- Santa Monica won the top award from the regional chapter of the American Public Works Association (APWA) in the transportation category for a Safe Streets project near the 17th Street Expo line.
The Southern California Chapter's B.E.S.T. Project of the Year awards celebrate projects that include "building, facilities and storm water quality," City officials said.
Fifty-three agencies submitted a record 97 entries this year, with five projects in the transportation category winning for advancing "the safety, connectivity and efficiency of our transportation networks.
Santa Monica’s project at 17th Street and Michigan Avenue "was created in response to increased pedestrian and bicycle traffic on 17th Street stemming from the opening of the Metro E (Expo) Line in 2016," City officials said.
The project added a protected bikeway, pedestrian scale lighting, curb extensions and upgraded ADA ramps. It also updated pedestrian and bike crosswalks and protected intersections between Wilshire and Pico boulevards.
On Michigan Avenue, the project included curb extensions, new and upgraded curb ramps and mini traffic circles, officials said.
The project also received the 2024 Outstanding Local Streets and Roads Project Award from the League of California Cities and was named one of the best new U.S. bike lanes built in 2023.
“The Safe Streets project is just one of the many ways the city is working to promote a safer and more accessible urban environment for bicyclists, pedestrians and motorists alike,” said Rick Valte, the City's director of Public Works.
The initiatives are part of the City's accelerated efforts to achieve "Vision Zero," a policy adopted in February of 2016 "to eliminate all fatal and severe-injury crashes" over the coming decades.
Despite the major investments in traffic safety, fatal and severe injury crashes involving cyclists and pedestrians in Santa Monica have increased in each of the past three years, according to data provided by the City.
Last year, 39 people were severely injured or killed in local traffic accidents, one of them a motorist killed in a car-only crash, the data compiled by the Department of Transportation show.
The total number of accidents resulting in severe injuries and deaths was the highest since 43 were reported in 2019 and the second highest since at least 2010, the first year counts were provided ("Rising Number of Pedestrians, Cyclists Killed or Seriously Injured in Santa Monica," August 12, 2024).
In 2023, pedestrians were involved in 16 severe injury crashes and five fatal crashes, while six bicyclists were severely injured and one was killed. Three severe injury crashes involved scooters.