Please join us at an Open House hosted by City of Santa Monica for the Stewart and Pennsylvania Avenue Bike and Pedestrian Improvement project. There are two dates you can attend, December 14th or December 18th. There is also an interactive map to review and provide comments online. We were excited to give input to help shape the project to date and look forward to community input to help further build a project that will best serve equitable mobility in a safer, healthy and active Santa Monica. Together we can create a safe and friendly community for everyone.
Project Goal: Walk & Bike Pedestrian improvements for Stewart and Pennsylvania Avenues
This project aims to make improvements that will connect local neighborhoods to transit facilities, bikeways, schools, parks, and employment opportunities. The Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE), Bicycle Action Plan (BAP), Bergamot Area Plan, and Pedestrian Action Plan all identify Stewart Street and Pennsylvania Avenue to include safety enhancements for pedestrians and bicyclists of all ages and abilities. This project plans to implement those improvements.
Project Elements: • Add new sidewalks, and pedestrian scale lighting on Pennsylvania Avenue between 26th Street and Stewart Street. • Enhance bike facility to a protected bikeway on Stewart Street between Colorado Avenue and Kansas Avenue to accommodate riders of all ages and abilities. • Enhance intersections at Stewart/Nebraska and Colorado/Yale.
We encourage you to check out the interactive map to review the project and provide comment. Upcoming open house information session flyers: •  Virginia Avenue Park Library Annex Saturday, December 14, 2019 from 2:30 PM – 5:00 PM •  Edison Language Academy Wednesday, December 18, 2019 from 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Join us for a day at the beach to learn more about Lyft Scooters and shared micro-mobility transportation options. Santa Monica Spoke’s certified instructors join the Lyft education and outreach team to be on hand to help boost your skills at this fun and free event!
Interested in learning more about scooters and road safety? Join Lyft and Santa Monica Spoke at the Santa Monica Bike Campus Sunday, November 10th for next scooter safety event.
Find out more about scooters and shared micro-mobility options. Learn the rules of the road, your rights and responsibilities, add new safety skills and techniques in a safe off road environment.
*Scooters are allowed on the campus for this event only. The beach is an e-scooter NO RIDE ZONE.
We’ll also be giving out helmets and refreshments for riders!
Join Santa Monica Spoke and the City of Santa Monica for Kidical Mass Halloween Ride. We will take an “all ages” ride* around the neighborhood North of Wilshire on this regular family friendly event. Prizes and giveaways at the park when we return!
Schedule. 9::00am – 12:00pm Don’t miss the fun pre-ride activities! – Check-in, Morning Snacks – (coffee, bagels, juice, and more!), Bike Safety Checks, Helmet Decorating and games! – ALL AGES Family Ride – Prizes, plus post ride activities and more snacks after the ride!
* Children must be accompanied and are the responsibility of their parents. Bikes should be in good working condition. Free Safety Checks on site for minor adjustments/repairs. Please use good judgement – ride is on city streets – smaller children should be in a child seat, in a trailer or Tag-a-long……
Don’t have a bike – You can #RideBreeze!
Don’t have a Kid Carrying Bike? NOT A PROBLEM ! Special 20% discount on Rentals at the Santa Monica Bike Center.
The City of Santa Monica has been conducting a roadway safety analysis for Wilshire Boulevard between Ocean Ave. and Centinela Ave. We want your help to identify safety issues and concerns!
Please join us and attend this second community workshop at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, east wing (1155 Main Street, Santa Monica). The is a special meeting of the Planning Commission to introduce a range of safety treatments and continue community input.
The Wilshire Safety Study’s first community workshop was held on June 8 at Reed Park. Thanks to all who attended and provided input. For those who were not able to attend, it is not too late to get involved or provide comments! Provided input via any of the methods listed below. The next community workshop will be held Thursday, October 17th and will focus on summarizing the input that has been received from community members, and presenting different safety treatment options for Wilshire Boulevard.
Ways to participate and provide input on the safety recommendations?
Attend the next Community Meeting to provide input October 17th 7 p.m. Santa Monica Civic Auditorium – East Wing 1855 Main St, Santa Monica.
For those who can’t make it, there are still opportunities to provide comments online, or you can e-mail directly
SB 127: Gov. Gavin Newsom VETOES “COMPLETE STREETS†BILL
SACRAMENTO, Calif.– Late this evening, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill (Senate Bill 127) championed by Sen. Scott Wiener.
The bill would have required the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to consider bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements when it repairs or repaves state routes that serve as local streets. This bill aimed to ensure state roads that run through local communities (e.g. 19th Avenue in San Francisco, Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, San Pablo Avenue in the East Bay, Santa Rosa Street in San Luis Obispo) are safe for people to walk, bike and use wheelchairs along those routes.
The Complete Streets for Active Living Bill had strong and widespread support. A recent poll found that 78% of California voters support a policy requiring safety improvements when improving a road. They want children to be able to safely walk or bike to school. Hundreds of schools exist within a half-mile of a California State Route and these streets remain some of the deadliest in the state.
Linda Khamoushian, Senior Policy Advocate, California Bicycle Coalition,: “Gov. Newsom’s decision blatantly ignores the immense support for this critical policy change. People risk their lives everyday just to walk or bike along dangerous state-owned streets. Without more aggressive complete streets policies, our transportation system will continue to operate business as usual. SB 127 was a rare opportunity to create livable streets for everyone. This decision was ill-informed by the faulty cost estimates from Caltrans that were proven illogical based on actual practice, and unfortunately will only perpetuate distrust without resolution. Communities demanded better from the Governor, but now are left in the dust.â€
Jamie Morgan, Government Relations Regional Lead, American Heart Association: “Californians want safer, more livable streets that support local businesses and local jobs. They want the ability to walk and bike safely. By vetoing SB 127, Gov. Newsom missed out on the opportunity to create more livable streets for our children, our residents and our communities.â€
Tony Dang, Executive Director, California Walks: “We are appalled by Governor Newsom’s decision to derail SB 127 despite overwhelming support by the public and the Legislature. Families and children deserve to be able to walk, bike, and cross their community’s local and main streets without fear–the veto of SB127 lets Caltrans off the hook and leaves the safety of our vulnerable residents to chance.â€
Margo Pedroso, Deputy Director, Safe Routes Partnership: “The Safe Routes Partnership is so disappointed that Governor Newsom vetoed the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill into law. As SB 127 made its way through the legislative process, it became clear that legislators understood this bill would create safe routes for everyone when Caltrans repaired state highways in populated areas. This legislation was a common-sense and cost-effective way to get more kids and families walking and biking to school safely when those schools are located next to state highways.â€
COMPLETE STREETS BACKGROUND
In California from 2007-2013, nearly 1.7 million people were injured in traffic incidents, including 95,758 while walking along or across the street. In those crashes, 22,117 people were killed, with pedestrians accounting for one-fifth of the total persons killed. The problem is often concentrated around Caltrans roads that go through low-income neighborhoods where more people get around via transit, biking and walking.
Caltrans often claims to make streets safer when they repair them. But in practice, they prioritize fast traffic over the communities demanding more livable streets almost every single time. The Complete Streets for Active Living Bill would have brought safety improvements necessary to stop the killing and maiming on state-owned roads.
SB 127 Co-Sponsors: California Bicycle Coalition, California Walks, American Heart Association, AARP, Safe Routes Partnership
Contact: Linda Khamoushian, California Bicycle Coalition, 916-668-9401, linda@calbike.org Tony Dang, California Walks, 510-464-8052, tony@calwalks.org Jamie Morgan, American Heart Association, 916-431-2359, Jamie.Morgan@heart.org David Azevedo, AARP, 626-616-9539, dazevedo@aarp.org Margo Pedroso, Safe Routes Partnership, 301-292-1043, margo@saferoutespartnership.org
Supporting Organizations: 350 Bay Area Action, 350 Silicon Valley, Active SGV, American Lung Association in California , Alameda County Transportation Commission, Berkeley Climate Hub, Bicycling Monterey, Bike Bakersfield, Bike Concord, Bike East Bay, Bike San Diego, Bike Santa Cruz County, Bike SLO County, BikeVentura, California Alliance for Retired Americans, California City Transportation Initiative/NACTO, California Democratic Party, California Interfaith Power & Light, California Park and Recreation Society, California ReLeaf, CALSTART Inc., CALPIRG, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Stockton, Cedars, Center for Climate Change and Health, Central California Asthma Collaborative, City Heights Community Development Corp., City of Encinitas, City of Half Moon Bay, City of Long Beach, City of Los Angeles, City of Oakland, City of Sacramento, City and County of San Francisco, City of Santa Monica, City of San Luis Obispo, Climate Action Campaign, ClimatePlan, Climate Resolve, Coalition for Clean Air, Coalition for Sustainable Transportation-Santa Barbara, Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities, Costa Mesa Alliance for Better Streets, Compton Unified School District, Cultiva La Salud, Davis Bike Club, Day One, East Bay Recreational Park District, Elders Climate Action (NorCal), Environment California, Fossil Free California, Inland Empire Biking Alliance, Investing in Place, Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, La Verne Bicycle Coalition, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, Local Government Commission, Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, Los Angeles Walks, Lyft Inc., Marin County Bicycle Coalition, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, Move LA, Napa County Bicycle Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council, Office of Mayor London Breed – San Francisco, Orange County Bicycle Coalition, Office of the Mayor, San Francisco, Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition, Planning and Conservation League, PeopleforBikes, PolicyLink, Public Advocates, Redwood Community Action Agency, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, Rural Counties Representative of California, Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates, San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, San Francisco Transportation Municipal Agency, San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco Planning Department, SFBA Families for Safe Streets, Santa Monica Spoke, Save The Bay, Seamless Bay Area, Shasta Living Streets, Sierra Club California, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, Sunflower Alliance, Transform, Transportation Agency for Monterey County, Trust for Public Land, Vision Zero Network, Walk Bike Berkeley, Walk & Bike Mendocino, Walk Oakland Bike Oakland, Walk Sacramento, Walk San Francisco, and Walk Long Beach.
Don’t have a bike –
