Safe Routes to School: Not what Samo needs

The clock on the car’s dashboard reads 8:03 a.m. as your mom inches forward behind another car. You're still on Lincoln Boulevard in an eternal line, stretching from the 10 Freeway to Michigan Avenue. The cars in front of you are moving at a snail’s pace, and you know that your mom will never be able to turn onto Michigan. Finally, you just give up and get out of the car.The traffic around Samo has become more congested than the lines at Disneyland. In late 2013, the SMMUSD division of the Safe Routes to School Program sought to improve the traffic flow around the Michigan gate. While this may seem like a good idea at first glance, the truth is the proposed plan only benefits bikers and it could make traffic even worse.The proposed traffic plan includes making the road in front of the Michigan gate into a one-way street. On the north side of the street, a bike lane will be placed next to the sidewalk. Parking spaces will be located next to this bike lane. A 10-foot lane will be placed in the middle of the road. Next to the road will be another bike lane and then more parking spaces. Basically, Safe Routes to SMMUSD Schools will complicate everything. Perhaps the only good part of the project is that cars will be able to turn left on Pico at 7th after the city removes the center median, and a traffic light will be installed so students can safely cross the intersection.But do we really need more bike lanes?When you go to the beach, the bike path there is full of bikers. In reality, the number of bikers on the bike path doesn’t accurately display the number of bikers in Santa Monica. According to “Governing,” a magazine for government leaders, only 2.75 percent of Santa Monicans bike. However, bike lanes have been added in almost every busy street in Santa Monica. Since a small minority of people use these lanes, many drivers view them as an inconvenience.Take this scenario and add the realistic occurrence of traffic at the Michigan gate. Sure, the percentage of Samo students who bike to school is more than 2.75 percent, but bikers still make up a minority of the school. In fact, according to a Santa Monica City Council report, just a little over 100 of Samo’s 3,300 students bike to school. Adding the two bike lanes will not only make traffic worse around the Michigan gate, but it will affect such a small population of people that it will seem pointless in the long run.The plan for the one-way street also reduces the number of lanes for cars to drive on to one. According to a Safe Routes to School report, the one lane will be 10 feet in length and the two parking areas will be seven feet each. So, instead of having the current 40 feet to drop off students and drive away, parents will only have 28 feet to do so. This reduction in space will make the street more congested. Even if the street becomes smaller, the number of cars driving on it will still be the same.In addition to adding bike lanes, the new proposed plan will make drop-off and pick-up worse for both students and parents. Currently, when I get dropped off for my AM period, both lanes plus the parking spaces at Michigan are constantly full of students getting out of cars. Some of them walk to the sidewalk while some get their bags out of their car trunk. Meanwhile, bicyclists are trying to get past these cars. According to the Safe Routes to SMMUSD Schools website, bicyclists have been hit or nearly missed by vehicles while biking up to the Michigan gate multiple times. Some of these accidents have been referred to as “dooring,” or being hit by a car door. So with these additions of bike lanes and a one way street, the traffic on Michigan will increase.The traffic at the Michigan gate does need to be improved, and although the proposed plan by the Safe Routes to School Program isn’t what Samo needs, it is on the right track. Instead of making Michigan a one-way street and making two bike lanes, I think that the two-way street should be kept. Meanwhile, the verge should have a section of it removed for bikes to go through. Not only will this keep traffic flowing, but it will also be safer for everyone, for no cars will be able to hit bikers and vice versa. This is what Samo needs. This is the way to keep bikers, walkers and automobile passengers safe.