Santa Monica-Malibu Unified schools are back in session today, and Juan Matute brings some images of a new Safe Routes to School Project at McKinley Elementary.
A new traffic-calming installation at Santa Monica Boulevard and Chelsea Avenue is now in place, giving pedestrians—particularly students walking to nearby McKinley Elementary School—a more protected crossing at one of the city’s busier streets.
But the improvements are the latest chapter in a project that dates back years. The concerns around McKinley were formally documented through Santa Monica’s Safe Routes to School program. In 2017, the city conducted walk audits at six schools, including McKinley, bringing together students, parents, faculty and city staff to identify problems on routes to and from school. The resulting 2018 report recommended improvements including curb extensions, better crosswalks, improved signage and pavement markings, bicycle accommodations and changes to school drop-off areas.
The city returned to the McKinley area several years later. A Safe Routes to School project began construction in 2024 and was completed in 2025, bringing curb-ramp improvements, crosswalk work and other changes around the school. At Santa Monica Boulevard and Chelsea, the project renewed the crosswalk across Chelsea Avenue and added a center two-way left-turn lane.
The intersection remained a concern, however. During the city’s more recent Santa Monica Boulevard Safety Study, community members participating in a walk audit identified high vehicle speeds along Santa Monica Boulevard and the long distances between crosswalks. Discussions with McKinley teachers, the PTA and other community members produced what the city described as a “strong desire” for a protected crossing.
The city’s recommended long-term solution is considerably more substantial than the improvements now on the ground. It calls for a new pedestrian traffic signal, a raised median and pedestrian refuge, a high-visibility crosswalk and directional curb ramps. The plan would also narrow traffic lanes to reduce vehicle speeds and restrict some turning movements.
The new traffic calming is therefore not the end of the process. It is an interim step toward a larger project that would provide a signalized crossing of Santa Monica Boulevard at Chelsea. The city has also identified Chelsea as a future bicycle connection between Santa Monica Boulevard and Park Drive.
For families who have participated in the neighborhood’s earlier Walk to School events, the changes represent a long-running effort to make the route to McKinley safer. And with school back in session this week, the timing of the new installation is particularly notable: Santa Monica has been emphasizing safer school travel while encouraging families to walk, bike, scoot and take transit to school.
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