Agenda - City of Santa Monica

Design Refinements: The new facility is designed to include 6’ lanes in each
direction and a 3’ raised lane divider to separate bicycles from vehicles. It would
also include state-of-the-art bike facility pavement markings and signal timing at
intersections to ensure optimal connection with the new Bike Center, future Pier
Bridge bicycle improvements, and the City’s existing bicycle network. The
separated cycle track on t he south side is the preferred solution to minimize
conflicts, especially at busy public garage driveways on the north side of Colorado.
The separate facility would allow better defined intersections with optimal
signalizations for all modes. The Main to 2 nd Street realignment would connect the
Main Street bike lane directly to the new Bike Center and Downtown. The cycle
track would also serve an ancillary purpose as a circumnavigation route for
emergency vehicles during incidents. A future bike connection through the 4 th Court
alley would connect the Downtown Station to the bike lanes on Broadway.
Funding: As a key component for Metro grant eligibility, the cycle track is
fundamental to the street cross section and is therefore recommended as part of
the core project.
C. Gateway Triangle: Just as the 4 th Street and Ocean Avenue intersections are
designed to signify strong north-south connections between Downtown and t he
Civic Center, the gateway triangle design creates a strong visual gateway to City
Hall, the Civic Auditorium and Civic Center parks. The gateway triangle is an
opportunity for a newly enlarged public space created by realigning Main and 2 nd
Streets. An earlier concept called for the re-location of the ficus trees on Colorado
to the new public space, extending the concept of the ficus grove in Tongva Park
across the freeway. However, the City Urban Forester expressed concern that the
ficus trees are approaching the end of their natural life and would likely not survive
the roadway and sidewalk reconstruction or relocation to another site.
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