Westside Bike Project Round-Up: Culver City Better Overland, Colorado Ave

This is a slightly edited version of this story from Streetsblog Los Angeles.

Below are several recent developments concerning bicycle facilities around the Westside.

More Protected Bike Lanes Coming to Santa Monica

Santa Monica is about to begin construction on its Colorado Avenue Protected Bikeway project, installing a new protected bikeway running next to the Metro E Line.

Colorado Avenue construction is expected to start “in the next few weeks” per Transportation Planner Kyle Kozar, and “is expected to take 2-3 weeks to complete.”

Culver City Approves Better Overland

Culver City Crossroads reports that the Culver City Council recently approved major safety upgrades for Overland Avenue.

Per the project website, Better Overland will feature “over 2.5 miles of protected bike lanes, extending from Venice Boulevard southward to the Fox Hills Neighborhood, including the Culver City Transit Center.” It will also improve sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, street lighting, and add new traffic signals at Kelmore Avenue/Ranch Road and Sawtelle Boulevard.

The project has two phases, both partially funded via Metro Active Transport (MAT) grants. Phase 1 funding is programmed this fiscal year, so initial construction could be underway by mid-2026. The second phase is anticipated to be installed in 2028.

Erickson: West Hollywood Green Doesn’t Pop

At last night’s West Hollywood City Council meeting [video – comments starting at 1:11:20], Councilmember John Erickson expressed some criticism of the nearly completed WeHo green bike lanes project. Erickson, a stalwart supporter of the city’s worthwhile bikeability improvements, expressed his frustration:

I love the green bike lanes. However if that is the color green that we waited – what felt like a long time – six months to be exact – essentially we waited on FilmLA to tell us what we already could do.

I feel like I got a gift and now I’m like “eh – I don’t really like it.” But the green – the moment you crossed Santa Monica and Doheny [the WeHo/Beverly Hills city limit] and it’s got a completely different color green. It [the WeHo side] is very dull. You can still see it, but I will say that the color green isn’t necessarily the color that pops.

We have to do everything we can to really alert drivers, especially ’cause they’re non-protected [bike lanes]. I know there’ll be a refresh coming at some point, and I would urge us to tell FilmLA to take a long walk off a very short cliff, because they are the reason why this has occurred. I don’t believe any of the excuses that they gave us. No one’s going to stop filming in the city of West Hollywood – Sur [restaurant], Lisa Vanderpump, every Real Housewives episode… People are going to watch Heated Rivalry and film it, and it’s going to be on TikTok…

I would just urge [city staff] that if we could get a different green, that actually makes a car say “oh, that’s actually green, that’s just not dirt,” it would be much appreciated. So I thank you – Thank you. Thank you for the green bike lanes, but it’s a really bad green… Hopefully we can figure out a different solution.

There is a decade-plus history of the film industry resisting visible bike safety improvements, especially in central city locations which Hollywood uses as a stand-in for other big cities.

Compare the various shades of green below (note that these photos are all right after paint was installed, and it does fade over time).

(h/t Andrew Solomon on Bluesky for alerting SBLA to Erickson’s remarks)

About The Author

Damien Newton

Damien is the executive director of the Southern California Streets Initiative which publishes Santa Monica Next, Streetsblog Los Angeles, Streetsblog San Francisco, Streetsblog California and Longbeachize.

See author's posts