By Gene Williams
April 13 -- More visitors downtown mean more business. But they also can mean more traffic. That’s why the City of Santa Monica is responding to requests from merchants like Exhale Yoga, Leonidas Chocolate Café and REI to install more bike racks in the Bayside District.
“Santa Monica’s Downtown is a place to which many people already walk, bike and ride the bus,” said City Administrative Analyst Betsy Kollgaard.
“By making bicycles a more attractive option, we can encourage more people to enjoy downtown without contributing to congestion.”
“‘Build and they will come’” works as well for bicycle amenities as for baseball fields,” Kollgaard added. Already, at some events, 30 percent of parked vehicles are bicycles.
Bikes can be locked to the metal posts, making downtown shopping easier for those who’ve chosen this healthy, green alternative to cars, she said.
In addition to being often speedier than driving, bikes save their riders money, Kollgaard pointed out. And money saved can be money to shop with.
The City “piggybacked” the bicycle racks onto its “Pedestrian Improvement Project,” Kollgaard said, so most of the racks on Second Street are already in place.
The cross streets to the Promenade and Fourth Street will get theirs next, and the public parking structures and Santa Monica Place will be outfitted with new bike racks as well.
