SAFE was delighted to join in the celebration marking the successful completion of the Safe Streets for 17th Street and Michigan Avenue Project last Saturday, December 2, at 1610 Colorado Avenue (Metro E line parking lot). This is Santa Monica’s newest addition to their protected bike network, which connects Wilshire Boulevard to Pico Boulevard on 17th Street and Michigan Avenue from 14th to 19th Streets. Visitors and community members alike will now be connected to local neighborhoods, transit facilities, bikeways, schools, and employment on bike paths in a safe, comfortable, and sustainable way.

The event kicked off with donuts, coffee, and hot chocolate. It was followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony and words from Mayor Gleam Davis, Transportation Director Anuj Gupta, Chief of Police Ramon Batista, and Santa Monica Spoke Director Cynthia Rose. Afterward, the Santa Monica High School Marching Band and the Academia de Danza Folklorico Flor de Mayo performed. Workshops were offered, including free bike repair and tune-ups from Santa Monica College Bike Maintenance Class, helmet decorating with Santa Monica Spoke, and bike and basket accessories workshops led by the reDiscover Center.

In addition to promoting sustainability and multi-modal transportation, the Safe Streets for 17th Street and Michigan Avenue project advances Santa Monica’s commitment to a clean and safe city, including the Vision Zero initiative, whose goal is eliminating severe traffic injuries and deaths on city streets. The city built on community engagement and feedback, including the adopted Bike Action Plan Amendment, Pedestrian Action Plan, the Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway (MANGo) Plan, and the city’s Land Use and Circulation Element.

The project's safer and more accessible urban environment for bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorists alike provides some of the following features:

• A concrete curb-protected bikeway.

• Increased lighting to better illuminate sidewalks and bike lanes.

• Curb extensions and upgraded ADA-accessible curb ramps.

• Freshly painted crossings to better define space for bicyclists and pedestrians and increase yielding compliance.

• Protected intersections to reduce crossing distances, slow vehicles and turns, and facilitate left turns for bikes and scooters without needing to merge into traffic.

• Curb extensions and new curb ramps at 14th and 15th Streets.

Here at SAFE, we’re excited to see how densely populated neighborhoods can be transformed into cyclist, pedestrian, and driver-friendly areas when city officials and residents become safety champion leaders. Santa Monica’s Mayor Gleam Davis said, “I’m thrilled to see such a robust, thoughtful, and important multi-modal project come to completion. Santa Monica is going to be the bicycle capital of the World.”