By Jorge Casuso

April 2, 2026 -- Santa Monica's commercial corridors will be spruced up as part of a sweeping plan to revitalize the city and boost its struggling economy.

Under an update to the Realignment Plan approved by the Council last week, the City will expand the enhanced maintenance and cleaning services Downtown to other commercial corridors, including Montana Avenue, Main Street and Wilshire, Pico and Ocean Park boulevards.

The services include "regular pressure washing of sidewalks and public spaces, hand and broom cleaning of streetscapes, enhanced sidewalk maintenance, and expanded landscaping and tree trimming," City officials said.

The enhanced services will be delivered in part through a workforce development partnership with Chrysalis, a job placement agency for the poor and homeless that helps provide the services in the Downtown core.

“Santa Monica has always believed that a clean, well-maintained city is a more welcoming one for everyone," said Mayor Caroline Torosis.

"This reorganization and expansion is about making sure that every neighborhood, every corridor, every small business owner gets the same investment we’ve made in Downtown."

The expanded services come after the Council last Tuesday approved a comprehensive reorganization of the Public Works Department that is "the most significant departmental restructuring" in the Realignment Plan update.

The reorganization also includes "the creation of a new Downtown and Beach Maintenance Division, merging the existing Downtown and beach maintenance teams under a unified structure," officials said.

The reorganization adds 12 positions across the department, including "supervisory, technical, and community-facing roles," and includes "dedicated funding for contracted cleaning and landscaping services at libraries as operating hours expand."

Under the updated plan, the City's 311 customer service operation -- which handles about 70 percent of Public Works-related service requests -- will transfer to the department "to improve response coordination and accountability."

In addition, the Mobility Division will move from the Department of Transportation into Public Works Engineering, "consolidating right-of-way planning, design, construction, and maintenance under a single department."

The reorganization and new investments come after the Realignment Plan's Downtown capital improvement program included pruning 603 trees, planting 37 new large-specimen trees, repairing 7,000 square feet of sidewalks and installing more than 300 native plants at gateway locations.

The program also included deploying the City's Homeless Support Team, which has collected over 744 tons of debris since October 2023, with collection volumes increasing 72 percent year-over-year, officials said.