1 David Yakobson
From: Dr Michael Cahn <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 8, 2025 5:41 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Cc: kent Strumpell; Lana Negrete; Jesse Zwick; Caroline Torosis; Dan Hall; Natalya Zernitskaya; Barry Snell; Ellis Raskin; Colleen E. Stoll; Jason Kligier; Kyle Kozar; Msgr.
Lloyd Torgerson; St. Monica Green Team; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; Mike Mottola
Subject: Item 4B, Washington Avenue Bikeway
EXTERNAL
Dear Council Members and Staff,
Thank you for moving forward with the quick-build projects planned for Washington and Michigan Avenues. I encourage you to see these projects through with the bold and effective innovations needed to change the cruel legacy of automobile deaths and injuries that has gotten worse on our streets in recent years. Cities all over our country have demonstrated how to do this. Let’s get on board, stop the entrenched deferring to cars, and make our streets safe and inviting for all road users,and do out share to address the unfolding climate catastrophe.
I applaud the plans for Washington Avenue, which is where I live. The vicinity of schools make this a very meaningful project. Please remember that Saint Monica also runs two schools on Washington Avenue, which produce a whole lot of car traffic during drop off and pick up times. The amount of traffic and double parking is astounding: I think of it as the original sin of unmitigated motordom. You will be aware that Laudato Sì, the encyclical letter of Pope Francis on Climate Change, has opened the door at Saint Monica's for less impactful and less destructive modes of transportation for the school run.
But the kids in the green school uniform need your help, they are underprovided with safe bike parking, they do not receive safe cycling education, and they are not participating in the Big Blue Bus free ride program that SMMUSD kids enjoy. Please instruct staff to go back to the original building permits for the site and make sure that commitments spelled out there are not forgotten.
I urge you to adopt the categorical CEQA exemption and adopt the resolution for receiving the grant funding.
--
Dr Michael Cahn
507 Washington Ave
Item 4-B
April 8, 2025
Item 4-B
April 8, 2025
2 David Yakobson
From: kent Strumpell <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 8, 2025 4:21 PM
To: councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Jesse Zwick; Caroline Torosis; Dan Hall; Natalya Zernitskaya; Barry Snell; Ellis Raskin
Cc: Colleen E. Stoll; Jason Kligier
Subject: Item 4B, Sustainable Communities grant for quick-build projects.
EXTERNAL
Dear Council Members and Staff,
Thank you for moving forward with the quick-build projects planned for Washington and Michigan avenues.
These two projects will play a key role in building out the complete and safe bikeway and pedestrian network that our city needs in order to fully tap these essential mobility options.
But in order to meet the projects’ goals for safety, and to realize these streets as truly safe and inviting corridors for biking and walking, it is essential that the improvements actually reduce traffic speeds and traffic volumes with physical measures that produce real results. Discouraging cut-through traffic can be unpopular with drivers who are reluctant to give up their favorite routes, but that is unfortunately the price of meaningful change to improve safety.
We encourage you to see these projects through with the bold and effective innovations needed to change the cruel legacy of deaths and injuries that has gotten worse on our streets in recent years. Cities all over our country have demonstrated how to do this. Let’s get on board, stop the entrenched deferring to cars, and make our streets safe and inviting for all road users.
We urge you to adopt the categorical CEQA exemption and adopt the resolution for receiving the grant funding.
Thank you and staff for all your great work!
Kent Strumpell
Laurene von Klan
Co-chairs, Climate Action Santa Monica
Item 4-B
April 8, 2025
Item 4-B
April 8, 2025
3 David Yakobson
From: Cynthia Rose <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 8, 2025 3:40 PM
To: councilmtgitems; Council Mailbox; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Dan Hall; Anuj Gupta Subject: Support Agenda Item 4B
Attachments: 2024-09 SCAG Sustainable Communities Grant Suppport.pdf
EXTERNAL
Dear Santa Monica City Council Members,
Thank you for your leadership in building a safer Santa Monica for people walking and biking with your vote to approve item 4B on tonights agenda. Attached you will find our original letter of support for the grant.
Funding for these projects in our community help realize our collective vision to establish safe, calm neighborhood streets, our goals for Vision Zero, our commitment to reducing car traffic to help meet our ambitious local and State climate goals. These projects encourage and support healthy – more environmentally sustainable – active transportation, and better connect residents, visitors and students to schools and neighborhood destinations. The important message council actions send to youth is that what they learn in school about climate actions can indeed be made real with climate-sensible infrastructure for a resilient present and future.
Thank you for your leadership.
--
Cynthia Rose
Director
Santa Monica Spoke
SMSpoke.org
I acknowledge with respect and gratitude the Tongva, Kizh, and Chumash Peoples on whose traditional territory I live and work.
Item 4-B
April 8, 2025
Item 4-B
April 8, 2025
A community group dedicated
to biking in Santa Monica.
Working to make the
City of Santa Monica a
more sustainable,
bikeable place to live, work and play.
September 20, 2024
Southern California Association of Governments
Sustainable Communities Program
Attn: Rachel Om
900 Wilshire Blvd Ste 1700
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Re: Michigan Avenue and Washington Avenue Neighborhood Greenways Quick Build Project:
Dear Ms. Rachel Om,
On behalf of Santa Monica Spoke (SM Spoke) and the Santa Monica Safe Streets Alliance (SaMoSSA), we are writing to express our enthusiastic support for the City of Santa Monica’s Sustainable Communities grant application to study and implement neighborhood greenways using quick-build materials along Michigan Avenue and Washington Avenue. As outlined in the City’s 2011 Bike Action Plan, and the more recent 2020 Bike Action Plan Amendment, neighborhood greenways are designed to accommodate all modes of travel, use traffic calming measures, enhanced signage, and landscaping to reduce speeding and motorized traffic. These critical elements improve safety and comfort for people walking and bicycling while providing lower-stress streets that encourage safer local neighborhood travel. The City’s envisioned network of neighborhood greenways supports Santa Monica’s Vision Zero and Climate Action and Adaptability Plan as well as our environmental sustainability goals to reduce traffic volumes and encourage walking and biking by increasing safety and comfort on corridors creating neighborhood connectivity to local destinations and schools.
The Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway (MANGo) has worked to create a safer, more inviting street in our community for neighbors and students walking and bicycling to Santa Monica High School as well as a comfortable place for neighbors of all ages to walk, bike, recreate, and interact with one another. Ultimately, the project will construct a three-mile Greenway between the Bergamot Arts Center / E-line Rail Station and the beach that provides a safe and comfortable place for neighbors and visitors of all ages to walk, bike, recreate, and interact with one another. However, a recent traffic study found that segments of Michigan Avenue still host more than 3,000 daily vehicle trips creating conflicts with students walking and bicycling to school.
As outlined in the MANGo Concept Plan adopted in 2014, the city aims to reach the target vehicle volumes of 1,500 average daily trips along Michigan Avenue by redirecting traffic using quick-build materials. These current traffic levels and roadway conflicts disproportionately affect the Pico Neighborhood, one that has been burdened by environmental health impacts for decades caused by increased traffic and pollution created by the I-10 freeway. The City will use lessons learned from the MANGo project on the proposed Washington Avenue neighborhood greenway to establish a calmer, safer street that connects families to neighborhood destinations, including Lincoln Middle School, Franklin Elementary School, Saint Monica Preparatory school, and the broader bikeway network. A significant by-product is the potential increased readiness of students arriving to learn after actively commuting bicycling or walking.
Santa Monica Spoke is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to improving walking, biking and healthy, active transportation in the City of Santa Monica. We are a community-based nonprofit working to make Santa Monica more sustainable, and a better place to live, walk, bike, work and play. Together with our local partners we work to envision a vibrant, connected community that is designed to be safe, equitable, sustainable and welcoming to everyone. Since our founding in 2009 we have been dedicated to supporting Santa Monica’s increased commitment to walking, bicycling, and healthy active environmentally friendly modes of transportation. We work in close partnership with city staff and public and private agencies, prioritizing nurtured partnerships within our community to identify and accomplish shared objectives.
Item 4-B
April 8, 2025
Item 4-B
April 8, 2025
The Santa Monica Safe Streets Alliance is a collaboration of local advocacy and community organizations and multi-generational community members that together work to promote and support the implementation of our community’s shared goals of complete streets that are designed to be vibrant, safe, equitable, sustainable and welcoming to everyone.
Through a robust community outreach and evaluation process, the quick-build project will allow the city to test and modify any proposed solutions for creating people-centered streets that are supported by the community. If awarded funding, SM Spoke and the SaMoSSA plans to continue its active participation in this project by providing feedback throughout the community engagement process and through one-on-one meetings with the city. The SM Spoke and the SaMoSSA strongly and enthusiastically supports the City of Santa Monica’s Michigan Avenue and Washington Avenue Neighborhood Greenways Quick Build Projects. These projects help our community realize our collective vision to establish safe, calm neighborhood streets, our goals for Vision Zero, our commitment to reducing traffic to help meet our ambitious local and State climate goals, encourage and support healthy – more environmentally sustainable – active transportation, and better connect residents and students to schools and neighborhood destinations. The message to students is that what they learn in school about climate actions is made real with climate-sensible infrastructure for a resilient present and future.
Sincerely,
Cynthia Rose
Director, Santa Monica Spoke Cris Gutierrez
Co-Chair, Santa Monica Safe Street Alliance Co-Chair, Santa Monica Safe Streets Alliance SMSpoke.org
SaMoSafeStreets.org
Item 4-B
April 8, 2025
Item 4-B
April 8, 2025