Take Down the Metal Wall. Pronto.

April 22, 2021

Dear Editor,

Santa Monica’s mad geniuses of traffic planning have struck again.

These are the folks who gave us “bump outs” on corners and the useless round-about on 26th Street.

Now they have ordained that we weave through a maze of steel poles on Ocean Avenue from California to the Pier. In so doing they eliminated one of two south-bound lanes.

Photo accompanying City's instructions on how to use Ocean Avenue's new bike lanes (Courtesy City of Santa Monica)

Not only is this an ugly development, but think of the carbon-generating traffic jams that will happen in the summer.

Thanks to their ideology, this is done to punish people in cars and provide new bike lanes for the saintly people who don’t drive. (Many of whom ignore existing bike lanes and prefer to ride on Ocean Avenue sidewalks.)

The planners look to European capitals for biking inspiration. Having seen many of those cities, I know that they would never defile their beautiful boulevards with ugly metal posts as our planners have done to Ocean Avenue.

Let’s all tell the City Council to take down the metal wall. Pronto.