Information Item
Date: February 8, 2022
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Edward F. King, Director, Department of Transportation Subject: “Sharing an Open Main Street” Pilot Evaluation Introduction
Pursuant to the discussion at the June 8, 2021, City Council meeting and subsequent direction, the Mobility Division worked collaboratively with other City departments and in partnership with Ocean Park Association (OPA) and the Main Street Business Improvement Association (MSBIA) to implement an “open street” pilot program, Sharing an Open Main Street, on one weekend each for four months: July 24-25, August 21-22, September 18-19, and October 16-17, 2021. The pilot closed two blocks of Main Street to vehicles between Hill and Kinney Streets to create a pedestrian plaza with outdoor dining, shopping, and recreation. This information item summarizes the Open Main Street pilot and provides a program evaluation of the pilot.
To support the pilot, City staff engaged a consultant to prepare temporary traffic control plans for the roadway closure and to report data for event and non-event traffic and pilot parking conditions. City staff oversaw traffic control installations, collected noise readings, and performed observations during each event. MSBIA and OPA collected survey responses from residents, visitors and business operators during each event.
In summary:
• Parking levels for on-street and lots, increased moderately during event weekends
• Traffic levels immediately adjacent to the pilot area increased slightly during event weekends
Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 2 • There was no significant change in traffic speed during event weekends • Pedestrian levels increased significantly during event weekends • All noise readings were within authorized levels for the location • Stakeholder responses to follow-up surveys were overwhelmingly positive Below: Pedestrians and diners at the first Sharing an Open Main Street.
Overview of Sharing an Open Main Street Events and Activities Sharing an Open Main Street provided an opportunity for the community to experience a massive public space in a completely new way. Without cars, two blocks of Main Street functioned as an open playground for residents and visitors to come together to dine, exercise, play, and visit. Business operators were allotted more space in the street to expand their operations and experiment with new concepts to serve customers. The slow pace of Sharing an Open Main Street on roads commonly filled with high volumes of loud and fast-moving traffic allowed people to visit local establishments they might not otherwise frequent and discover businesses they may not have known existed while driving. Main Street businesses overwhelmingly perceived the pilot as a benefit to their business.
Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 3 Family-friendly programming, organized by MSBIA and OPA, provided local businesses, artists, musicians, dancers, health and fitness instructors, and other participants with a platform to showcase their talent and actively engage attendees by drawing their services out onto the street.
Exhibit 1 illustrates the project area, barriers, and fire access lane Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 4 Exhibit 2 illustrates the detour routes for vehicles and buses and location of public parking lots
Traffic Control Plan and Traffic Assessment
Michael Baker International, the project’s traffic control consultant, prepared the temporary traffic control plans (TTCPs) for the closure of Main Street between Hill and Kinney streets based on input provided by the City in accordance with the City’s Procedures and Requirements for TTCPs and the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). The plans included the following components:
• Water-filled temporary safety barricades
• Fire access lane (minimum width of 17-feet)
• Detour signage for vehicles
• Changeable Message Signs (CMS)
• Temporary bus stop closures and detours
Traffic and parking count data was obtained in June 2021 to establish baseline nonevent conditions. These counts were conducted on the weekend of Saturday and Sunday, June 19-20. The same traffic counts were re-collected during the July Sharing an Open Main Street event on Saturday and Sunday, July 24-25 to establish traffic and Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 5 parking conditions during the event. The extents and location of the count data efforts included the following:
• Intersection Turning Movement Counts (10 AM – 8 PM Saturday only) – Turning movement counts are obtained by counting vehicles that move left, through, or right at every intersection approach (e.g, north, south, east and west) at the following intersections:
1. Neilson Way / Hill Street
2. Neilson Way / Kinney Street
3. Neilson Way / Marine Street
4. Main Street / Hill Street
5. Main Street / Kinney Street
6. 2nd Street / Hill Street
• Automobile Daily Segment Counts (48-hour Saturday & Sunday) – Automobile roadway counts are obtained by counting the vehicles mid-block on a roadway segment. The counts can determine the number, speed, and classification (passenger, truck, etc.) of vehicles. This information was captured for:
1. Neilson Way – between Hill Street and Ashland Avenue
2. 2nd Street – between Hill Street and Ashland Avenue
3. 3rd Street – between Hill Street and Ashland Avenue
4. 4th Street – between Hill Street and Raymond Avenue
The following data analysis is a comparison of the baseline non-event data to the traffic and parking conditions during the first event. Please note that traffic collection equipment at the intersection of Main and Kinney streets was tampered with on multiple occasions and therefore it is not included in this analysis.
Automobile Counts and Speeds
Automobile Counts
Baseline daily trips on Neilson Way average 18,550. The first event weekend shows an increase in traffic volumes on Neilson Way by an average of 5,800 daily trips over baseline of 18,550 daily trips for an overall average of 24,350 daily trips during the event.
Exhibit 3, below, illustrates non-event baseline versus first event weekend automobile counts.
Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 6 Exhibit 3 –Average traffic counts for non-event baseline and first event weekend • Fourth Street experienced an average increase of 1,000 daily trips over baseline of 4,656 daily trips for an overall average of 5,700 daily trips. • Third Street experienced an average increase of 1,110 daily trips over its baseline of 1,682 daily trips for an overall average of 2,800 daily trips. • Second Street experienced an average increase in vehicles of 550 daily trips over its baseline of 850 daily trips for an overall average of 1,400 daily trips.
Automobile Speeds
Speed data was also obtained at the same locations. No significant change in speed was evident in the data when comparing the non-event baseline vs. the first event weekend. The only roadway segment that showed a decrease in speeds was Neilson Way at 33 miles per hour (MPH) during the first event conditions compared to 36 MPH during non-event conditions (a difference of 3 MPH).
Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 7 Exhibit 4 - Average speed during baseline and the first event conditions Street
Segme
nt
Day Directio
n
Baseline
Conditions
First Event
Conditions
Delta
(Increase/Decrea
se)
Avera
ge
Speed
(MPH)
85th
Percentil
e (MPH)
Avera
ge
Speed
(MPH)
85th
Percenti
le (MPH)
Avera
ge
Speed
(MPH)
85th
Percentil
e (MPH)
Neilson
Way
Saturday
& Sunday Both 29 36 26 33 -3 -3
2nd
Street
Saturday
& Sunday
Southbound 18 24 19 24 1 0
3rd
Street
Saturday
& Sunday Both 15 19 14 19 -1 0
4th
Street
Saturday
& Sunday Both 19 24 20 24 1 1
Pedestrian, Bike and Scooter Counts
Pedestrian, bicycle, and scooter volumes were collected at the following intersections:
1. Neilson Way / Hill Street
2. Neilson Way / Kinney Street
3. Neilson Way / Marine Street
4. Main Street / Hill Street
5. 2nd Street / Hill Street
All five intersections showed an increase in pedestrian traffic when comparing the two weekends. During the non-event conditions, 1,150 pedestrians, 1,050 bicyclists, and 100 scooters were counted at the intersection of Main and Hill streets over an 8-hour period between 10 AM and 8 PM, compared to 7,500 pedestrians, 950 bicycles, and almost 100 scooters during the first event on Saturday, July 24. This reflects a 550% increase in pedestrian traffic while bicycle and scooter traffic dropped 9% and 5%, respectively.
Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 8 Exhibit 5 - Pedestrian, bicycle, and scooter counts for baseline and first event weekends at all five study intersections
Parking Observations
On-Street Parking Observations (7 AM – 7 PM Saturday only) Parking surveys document the number of occupied parking spaces on an hourly basis for the duration of the survey period. This information was collected at:
1. Hill Street – between 3rd Street and Main Street
2. Ashland Avenue – between 3rd Street and Main Street
3. 2nd Street – between Ocean Park Boulevard and Marine Street
4. 3rd Street – between Ocean Park Boulevard and Marine Street Parking surveys were conducted for 12 hours on Saturday, June 19 as well as during the first event. The parking survey included a detailed parking inventory that identified parking characteristics including handicap parking, restricted parking, permit parking, etc. During the survey, the occupancy of each parking space was recorded every hour Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 9 for 12 hours from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. This data was used to determine the parking utilization as a percent of parking spaces occupied.
During non-event days, data shows that on-street parking is highly utilized, with occupancies generally at or above 85% throughout the day within the residential neighborhoods on Second and Third streets as well as during the afternoons after 2:00 PM on Hill Street and Ashland Avenue. The peak parking conditions under non-event conditions occurred from 3:00 – 4:00 PM where overall occupancy was at 93.5%.
With the first event conditions, several areas within the study area are shown to have a parking utilization at 100%. The highest occupied areas occurred on Ashland Avenue between Second and Third streets, as well as on Third Street. Peak parking conditions during the event were from 3:00 – 4:00 PM where overall occupancy within the study area was at 95.5%.
Exhibit 6 - Parking occupancy on nearby streets during baseline and first event weekends
Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 10 Off-Street Parking Observations
Parking data for off-street parking in Lot 9 (located along Neilson Way between Hill and Kinney streets) and Lot 5 (located at the beach along Barnard Way between Sea Colony Dr and Ocean Park Blvd) was also analyzed during baseline and the first event days. In both instances, Lot 9 remained full. During the first event weekend in July, Lot 9 experienced high occupancies on both Saturday and Sunday, while on the comparison weekend, Sunday parking was lighter. Beach Lot 5S occupancies were very similar to Lot 9, where the event and comparison weekends show similar activity on Saturday, while the event weekend stayed busier on Sunday.
Exhibit 7 - Parking occupancy in City Lot 9 during baseline and first event weekends Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 11 Exhibit 8 - Parking occupancy in City Beach Lot 5S during baseline and first event weekends
Noise Levels
Code Enforcement Officers conducted noise readings for two time periods (12PM and 7PM) during three different events: on July 17-18, as a baseline condition when the street was open to vehicular traffic; during the first event weekend on July 24-25; and during the final event weekend on October 16, 2021.
Code Enforcement Officers did not observe or hear unreasonably loud noise activity during the first event on July 24-25 or during the final event on October 16, 2021. The noise readings collected on October 16, 2021 were in direct response to eight complaints from residents regarding noise generated during the August and September events.
Based on the Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 4.12, Main Street (which falls in Noise Zone II), was within the allowable noise standards when the readings were taken during the event weekends. The readings did not identify noise levels to be unreasonably loud, raucous, jarring or disturbing to persons of normal sensitiveness within the area of audibility.
Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 12 Exhibit 9 - Average noise levels for baseline and event weekends General Observations by City Staff
Staff observations during each event did not indicate significant neighborhood traffic, noise, transit, or parking disruption. Staff observed some bicyclists and skateboarders who did not dismount as requested when entering the pedestrian plaza. In general, the environment was family-friendly with fitness, dance, lawn games, music, and art activities for all.
Staff made minor adjustments to the traffic control plan after the first event, determining that a full closure at Main Street and Ashland Avenue would eliminate conflicts between drivers and pedestrians crossing at the intersection and improve pedestrian flow and continuity across the two blocks.
Staff received less than a dozen inquiries after each weekend event from residents and businesses regarding lack of on-street parking, general inconvenience to residents due to the closure, excessive noise levels, and reports of trash. Staff also received half a Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 13 dozen emails from residents who expressed enthusiasm for the events and a desire to formalize the pilot.
City staff coordinated closely with OPA and MSBIA to address inquiries from the community and to reduce impacts wherever possible. Each event weekend, OPA set up a booth staffed by volunteers to help answer questions about the pilot. MSBIA hired two Chrysalis team members for each weekend closure, whose responsibility was to pick up trash and assist with event breakdown. Two of MSBIA’s farmers market team members also assisted with cleaning trash throughout the events.
Four portable restrooms and sinks were secured at Hill and Kinney streets for each weekend closure and included cleaning each Sunday morning. OPA and MSBIA invited local businesses to participate in each weekend event, offering dedicated space in the street for them to host free activities such as dance classes, fitness classes, art, sports, and other entertainment. OPA also coordinated with scooter companies to create a “no throttle zone” within the pedestrian plaza and designated scooter drop zones for parking.
Below: Local businesses host fitness classes in the street.
Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 14 Below: A climbing wall was a major attraction, especially for families with children.
Below: Ten Women Gallery hosted face painting and a crafts table.
Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 15 Below: Pumpkin Patch
Below: Visitors set up lawn chairs in the street and enjoyed popcorn while watching Beetlejuice
Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 16 Below: Dancing to the music
Below: Best in show at the annual Howl-o-ween costume contest. Photo by: Pet Shot Studios
Survey Responses
OPA collected survey responses from event attendees and through electronic mailing lists. Responses were overwhelmingly positive, with respondents living within two blocks Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 17 of the closure providing most of the negative responses. Respondents reported spending more time on Main Street because of Sharing an Open Main Street. In terms of travel behavior to the event, walking was the preferred choice of travel by 64% of the event attendees.
Exhibit 10 - General impression of survey respondents by home location by month of survey
Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 18 Exhibit 11 - Reported impact of Sharing an Open Main Street on time spent on Main Street
Exhibit 12 - How survey respondents traveled to the event Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 19 MSBIA also collected surveys from businesses on Main Street, both inside and outside of the pilot area. Businesses located within the event area were equally split between loving the event and rating it as “okay,” whereas the majority of businesses located outside the event area felt it was okay. Of the business types, restaurant/bars reported very favorable impressions of the event whereas retailers were overwhelmingly “okay” and a small percentage (6%) reported a negative sentiment.
In terms of economic impacts, 54% of businesses located within the pilot area reported increased sales versus 24% of those located outside of the event area, and an average of 19% of businesses along Main Street reported worse sales with the greatest positive impact reported by restaurants/bars versus the most negative impact report by retailers. A summary of the results is listed below.
Exhibit 13 - Survey respondents' feelings toward the event by location Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 20 Exhibit 14 - Survey respondents' feelings toward the event by business category Exhibit 15 illustrates how businesses in and out of the pilot area on Main Street responded when asked about the economic impact on their business Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 21 Exhibit 16 illustrates how different business categories responded when asked what kind of economic impact the pilot had on their business
Email comments to Council regarding Sharing an Open Main Street Following the last event on October 17, 2021, the City Council received 248 emails expressing their opinion about the pilot including 242 positive and 6 negative.
Approximate Cost and Staff Time
The Sharing an Open Main Street pilot was primarily funded from repurposed Metro grant funds, originally intended for the 2020 COAST open streets event, which could not occur due to the pandemic. Metro allowed for repurposing $70,000 of the funds to this and other Art of Recovery projects, on a one-time basis. In addition, MSBIA received Council Contingency Funds of $25,000 which was applied towards the event to help fund activities, entertainment, and cleaning services. This funding was previously designated for Main Street SOULstice and was approved to be re-purposed to the Open Streets event instead. Ongoing or future funding for this program has not been identified. Below is a breakdown of how the Metro funds were used, in-kind costs from the City, MSBIA costs, and approximate number of hours spent by City staff. The overall Sharing an Open Main Street pilot cost was $141,070, not including City or MSBIA staff time. Future events, including City co-produced events, would carry a higher price tag as they would incur permit fees and City staffing costs as required under the City’s Community Events Policy.
Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 22 ITEM COST FUNDING SOURCE
Traffic Control & Supervision
Design Traffic Control Plan & Data
Collection/Analysis $28,582 Metro Coast Funding
Traffic Control Services/Parts $20,000 Metro Coast Funding Big Blue Bus Detour $27,572 In-kind
City Fees
Water Fees for Hydrant Meter - Hookup $225 In-kind
Water Fees for Hydrant Meter - 4 events $572 Metro Coast Funding TNPS/Meter Revenue Fees $1,266 In-kind
RRR - additional trash carts $4,390 MSBIA
Street Closure Permit Fees $307 In-kind
Marketing & Materials
Graphic Designer - flier, poster, banner, social
media $855 Metro Coast Funding
Printing - flier, poster, signs, banner $1,839 Metro Coast Funding Banner Installation $2,709 Metro Coast Funding
Advertising - social media/digital $800 Metro Coast Funding Advertising - social media/digital, press, etc. $6,931 MSBIA Supplies $1,555 MSBIA
Activations and Vendors $3,150 MSBIA
Street Team - door to door flier distribution $2,500 MSBIA Live Music $2,975 MSBIA
Day-of Staff, Street Clean-up Crew $4,550 MSBIA
Rentals - tables, chairs, tents, stanchions, porta
potties $30,293 MSBIA
City of Santa Monica Staff Time
Mobility Hours
Chief Mobility Officer 50 In-kind
Mobility Manager 10 In-kind
Principal Transportation Planner 10 In-kind
Principal Traffic Engineer 15 In-kind
Transportation Planning Associate 420 In-kind
Traffic Engineer 40 In-kind
Planning Assistant 6 In-kind
Communications
Senior Marketing Manager 15 In-kind
Economic Development
Economic Development Manager 20 In-kind
Senior Development Analyst 15 In-kind
Community Development
Information Item: Sharing an Open Main Street Pilot Program Evaluation 23 Planning Manager 20 In-kind
Senior Planner 15 In-kind
Police 6 In-kind
Fire 4 In-kind
BBB 8 In-kind
RRR 8 In-kind
Code Enforcement 6 In-kind
CAO 20 In-kind
TOTAL HOURS - CITY OF SM STAFF 688 hours
TOTAL - PAID BY METRO COAST FUNDS $55,357
TOTAL – IN-KIND (not including staff costs) $29,369
TOTAL - MSBIA $56,344
TOTAL OVERALL EVENT COSTS: $141,070 (or approx. $35k per weekend) Conclusion
Overall, the pilot is considered a success by City staff in that it did not create any unforeseen traffic issues or have a significant negative impact on the character of the neighborhood. Survey responses were overwhelmingly positive, with respondents living within two blocks of the closure providing most of the negative responses.
Open street events are not new to Main Street. Summer SOULstice, Santa Monica COAST, and the 4th of July parade are all annual events that have been celebrated for years, closing off vehicle access to portions of Main Street between Pico to Marine for varying amounts of time. Sharing an Open Main Street was the next step in the evolution of those events. These events align with local and national movements that look at creative ways to repurpose space on our streets to support our communities.
Prepared By: Jacqui Swartz, Transportation Planning Associate, Mobility Division