By Jorge Casuso
October 29, 2025 -- As National Pedestrian Safety Month comes to a close, traffic improvements will enter their final phase in the industrial zone area and SMPD traffic officers will resume enforcement operations.
The annual awareness effort takes place annually in October, which City officials note "has historically seen some of the highest rates of vehicle collisions involving pedestrians."
The trend is "partly due to shorter daylight hours and reduced visibility during fall evenings," officials said.
The seasonal change comes as the City enters the last leg of a plan that "enhances safety and strengthens connections" in the Bergamot area, City official note.
First-Last Mile Improvements Project Enhancements have been made along several key corridors identified "as having the highest rates of fatal and severe collisions compared to other streets in Santa Monica."
The corridors in the Bergammot plan include portions of Olympic Boulevard, 26th Street, Stewart Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, City officials said.
The project includes 8,700 linear feet of protected bicycle lanes, 2,770 linear feet of new sidewalks, 29 streetlight poles, 52 trees, 2 curb extensions, 2 Big Blue Bus boarding islands and 2 bicycle signals.
It also includes a new crosswalk and upgraded curb ramps; signal timing adjustments; paint, signs and markings to clarify the use of space, and a resurfaced street for a smooth ride.
"These improvements will help us realize our city-wide goals of eliminating fatal and severe crashes, reducing emissions, building a complete, high-quality transportation network, and ensuring that streets are accessible for all ages and abilities," City officials said.
The improvements will be completed as the City resumes its traffic safety enforcement efforts funded by State grants after the grant year concluded on September 28, according to the weekly SMPD blog The Blue Notebook.
The City Council next month is expected to accept a $285,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) to support SMPD's "ongoing enforcement and education programs to help reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths" through September 2026.
During the two-week period from September 28 to October 11, Santa Monica officers made 356 stops, issued 181 citations, gave 173 advisals, conducted 38 investigations and made 7 arrests.
The actions reported do not include traffic enforcement operations, which ended during the previous State funding cycle with a DUI Checkpoint that took place on September 11.
The street improvements and enforcements efforts are key components of
the City’s Vision Zero commitment adopted in February 2016 that aims to reduce the number of fatal and severe injury crashes to zero by next year.
So far this year, there have been three pedestrian fatalities, with two taking place Friday after a speeding car going the wrong way on Wilshire Boulevard struck four pedestrians. The other two pedestrians were hospitalized with injuries.
The first traffic fatality took place on August 14 when a pedestrian was struck by a car near the Expo light rail station Downtown.
The crashes took place as fatal and serious injury (FSI) collisions soared in Santa Monica in 2024, marking the fourth straight year the numbers have risen, according to Transportation Department data.
There was a total of 60 crashes last year that resulted in severe injuries or deaths last year, a 54 percent rise over the 39 reported in 2023.
Of the 60 FSI crashes, 21 involved pedestrians, 9 involved bicyclists and 4 involved scooters, according to the data. Five of the crashes were fatal, with three involving pedestrians and two bicyclists. The other 26 involved only cars.