By Daniel Larios
Staff Writer

September 10, 2014 – Santa Monica City officials have revised the design of a key component to the Colorado Esplanade that will greet riders when the Expo line arrives in the bay side city in early 2016.

Originally a triangular landscaped area created by the realignment of Main Street to Second Street, the redesigned space will provide a larger usable area reminiscent of a small park, City officials said Monday.

The change comes after council members asked staff to prepare an alternative design to the “Gateway Triangle” that include more public open space “that people can utilize as if it were a small park” when it approved the plan in May of last year.

“Given Council’s direction, staff and the design team developed a minimal design that keeps the walkway layout close to the original design, provides an open turf area, an open meadow grass area, keeps existing palm trees adjacent to Sears in place and provides for new meadow grass,” said Martin Pastucha, the City’s director of Public Works.

In addition to more open space, the Gateway Triangle will also feature efforts to significantly reduce the use of potable water for irrigation due to the water restrictions approved by the Council during a statewide drought.

In addition to being irrigated by treated urban runoff from Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility (SMURRF), water saving measures will include a sophisticated irrigation system which features flow sensors and master valves, restricted water schedules between 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and drought tolerant turf and meadow plants.

The updated design will also significantly reduce construction costs because “it consists of only turf, meadow grass, concrete and irrigation as opposed to the original design which has more extensive landscaping,” the report concludes.

The revised design is expected to be approved at a future council meeting, with no additional costs to the project expected.

Pending approval of federal funding, the City will begin construction in early 2015 of the $10 million Colorado Esplanade project that will renovate Colorado Avenue west of Fifth street.

The project includes realigning Second and Main Streets, upgrading infrastructure on Colorado Avenue between Ocean Avenue and 4th street and connecting the future Expo Light Rail station to Tongva Park and the Santa Monica Pier.

Key components include 20 to 30 feet wide sidewalks to accommodate an increase in pedestrian traffic and a “cycle track” that provides bike lanes for both directions.

The Colorado Esplanade project construction will be funded by a combination of City money and a $3.3 million grant from Metro.