On August 17, 2009 Santa Monica City Council reduced the speed limits in certain areas because of the results of a traffic survey. This survey was based on traffic records from 103 different locations over the past five to ten years. The survey takes roadway conditions, pedestrians, and bicyclists into consideration for determining the appropriate speed limit.
Olympic Boulevard between 11th Street and 15th Street will be reduced 45 miles per hour to 40 miles per hour. Ocean Park Boulevard between 23rd Street and Centinela Avenue will decrease from 40 miles per hour to 35 miles per hour. Wilshire Boulevard between Lincoln Boulevard and 17th Street, and Wilshire Boulevard between 17th Street and Centinela Avenue will go from 35 miles per hour to 30 miles per hour. 4th Street between San Vicente Boulevard and Montana Avenue, 4th Street between Pico Boulevard and Ocean Park Boulevard, 4th Street between Ocean Park Boulevard and south City Limit, 5th Street between Montana Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard, Main Street between Pico Boulevard and Ocean Park Boulevard, Main Street between Ocean Park Boulevard and south City Limit, Ocean Avenue between Pico Boulevard and Hollister Avenue, and 4th Street between Montana Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard will all be reduced from 30 mph to 25 mph.
Also some speed limits will increase, for example the speed limit on Colorado Avenue between Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Boulevard and on 2nd Street between Wilshire Boulevard and Colorado Avenue will increase from 25 to 30 miles per hour.
The City’s Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE), an organization that will be in charge of development and traffic patterns for the next twenty-five years, made these changes. The changes were made in response to complaints by residence of Santa Monica.
