By Jorge Casuso

April 7, 2025 -- A congested road where speeding drivers routinely compete with students walking or biking to school could soon become safer under a project that will test traffic measures that can be permanently implemented.

The City Council on Tuesday is expected to accept a nearly $900,000 grant "to implement quick-build treatments for a new greenway along Washington Avenue" and to expand an existing greenway across town on Michigan Avenue.

The road on the City's north side is "the backbone walking and biking corridor" that connects two public schools, Douglas Park, First United Methodist Church and St. Monica’s Catholic Church and Preparatory School, according to staff.

But while it was designated as a "greenway" in the City's bike plan adopted by the Council 14 years ago, it has only some bike markings and a few speed bumps, staff said.

Washington Avenue "does not operate or feel like a neighborhood greenway," staff said, noting that parents from Franklin Elementary and Lincoln Middle schools have "raised concerns about excessive vehicle speeding and traffic."

This has made it "uncomfortable" for students to bike to the two schools, which have some of the highest participation rates in the school district’s Bike it! Walk it! events, staff said.

The $875,552 grant from the Southern California Association of Governments’ (SCAG) will "test and evaluate solutions that reduce and calm traffic" along Washington Avenue, as well as along the Michigan Avenue greenway.

The improvements will reduce traffic and "conflicts on the greenway" by introducing "traffic calming elements" that include curb extensions, diverters, chicanes or s-shaped curves, speed cushions and improved crosswalk markings, staff said.

The project will also include "data collection and an existing conditions analysis of the corridors," including collision history and traffic volumes.

Neighborhood greenways -- which are a key component of the Bike Action Plan (BAP) adopted by the City Council in 2011 -- are designed "to encourage the most vulnerable road users to walk, bike, and roll."

Since the plan's adoption, the City "has advanced one notable neighborhood greenway project through the Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway Concept Plan (MANGo), adopted in 2014," staff said.

Construction of the "quick-build" greenway project on Washington, which will be managed by the City in coordination with SCAG, is expected to begin this summer, staff said.

There will be "a robust evaluation phase performed six months after the installation of the project, and a final summary report."

The new greenway is being tested as the number of crashes in Santa Monica that resulted in severe injuries or deaths soared to 60 last year, up from 39 reported in 2023 ("Crashes Resulting in Severe Injuries, Deaths Soar," February 14, 2025).

Of the 60 FSI crashes last year, 21 involved pedestrians, 9 involved bicyclists and 4 involved scooters, according to the data. The other 26 involved only cars.

Five of the crashes were fatal, with three involving a pedestrian and two a bicyclist, according to press releases issued by the Police Department last year.