Making Colorado One-Way Will Make SaMo Traffic Way Better

Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica is getting a big makeover in conjunction with the arrival of the Expo Line light rail, currently being built. As part of the project, the street will become one-way from the downtown SaMo station at Fourth Street, all the way to Ocean Avenue, to make way for a pedestrian esplanade. An environmental impact report for the esplanade, which includes 55-foot sidewalks, bike lanes, and a dramatic staircase leading to the station, found that closing eastbound traffic at the western edge of Colorado will not result in traffic armageddon and will actually bring benefits, according to Patch. Traffic will be redistributed among other streets and "these traffic shifts can be fully accommodated by the given traffic capacity [on] parallel corridors, without creating significant operational issues or travel delays." One-waying Colorado will allow the city to realign Main and Second Streets and create a pedestrian scramble--a four-way crosswalk--that will allow easier pedestrian access to the Santa Monica Pier. The city is working hard to get their ducks in a row to accommodate the train, which is anticipated to bring as many as 400 people to the area about every six minutes during peak times.
· City: One-Way Car Flow on Colorado Is Better for Traffic [Patch]