Santa Monica Spends Millions to Prioritize Broadway for Buses and Bikes

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The City of Santa Monica has completed a major reconstruction project on California Avenue, rebuilding the roadway, installing a new storm drain system, and improving pedestrian access. With that work largely finished, the city has now shifted its focus to the Broadway Safety Project, which will add bike lanes, repave the street, replace sidewalks, and implement other safety measures to prioritize transit and cyclists along the busy corridor.

Why it matters

These infrastructure investments reflect Santa Monica's broader goals of promoting sustainable transportation, improving safety, and enhancing the vitality of its downtown. By making it harder to bring private cars into the city center and easier for buses and bikes to move through, the city aims to reduce congestion, emissions, and accidents while supporting local businesses and community life.

The details

The California Avenue Street Reconstruction project addressed aging pavement, improved pedestrian access, and incorporated sustainable features. Residents and businesses experienced temporary disruptions during construction, but the bulk of the work has now concluded. The Broadway Safety Project will add concrete-protected bike lanes, improve crosswalks, implement traffic calming measures, and upgrade pedestrian infrastructure, with the goal of making the corridor more accessible and safe for all users.

• The California Avenue project reached substantial completion ahead of its anticipated full wrap-up in summer 2026.
• The Broadway Safety Project kicked off in early January 2026, with Phase 1 (Ocean Avenue to 9th Street) seeing paving completed in late January and Phase 2 (9th Street to 26th Street) advancing through targeted paving segments in March, targeting full completion by mid-April 2026.

What’s next

The city will continue to monitor the impact of the Broadway Safety Project and may consider further measures to prioritize transit, cycling, and pedestrian access in the downtown area.