How people get around in cars and on foot in Downtown Santa Monica during the holidays is going to change, and hopefully for the better. Just ahead of Thanksgiving, the City of Santa Monica will begin testing out some new strategies to help improve the vehicle and pedestrian flows through the area. more ›

Earlier this year, Mayor Villaraigosa introduced his 2008 Traffic Relief Initiatives, which outlines ten proposals for improving driving conditions throughout the city (full document downloadable here). One of the initiatives is called "Pico East Olympic West" (or, alternatively "Olympic West Pico East") which was labeled a "Priority Express Corridor." The three-phase project will see a "seven-mile stretch of both streets between La Brea Boulevard and Centinela Avenue" have more "consistent rush hour parking restrictions" first, followed by a change in signal timing to promote traffic flow, then lastly a re-striping of the streets that will see more lanes going West on Olympic and East on Pico. more ›