UPDATE: A sign on Santa Monica Boulevard says the street will be closed through April 14 between Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and Ebers Street. So much for the project getting done by the end of spring break. Good luck to all the parents taking their kids to school this week. It should be interesting.
By Matthew Wood
It’s not all fun and games at Ocean Beach Elementary School during spring break.
Santa Monica Avenue has been closed between Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and Ebers Street all week as workers have been frantically trying to finish putting in a much-anticipated crosswalk outside the school.
The project was supposed to be finished before students came back on Monday, but as of Friday morning, there was still a big hole in the street and a construction crew working frantically to get the job done. Rain earlier in the week helped to delay the construction.
“I’m definitely looking forward to finally having this done,” said Gretchen Newsom, the OB Town Council president and mother of a student at OB Elementary. “And hopefully it will be done by next week, if not sooner. That street is a major thoroughfare for parents.”
The project has been in the planning process for a long time. The city painted in a crosswalk last year, but had to paint over it because it wasn’t up to the city code of having a street light over every crosswalk.
A street light was put in over the school’s winter break. Now crews are cutting curbs and digging a hole to put in a raised walkway.
Suzy Reid said:
“We’re very excited that the process is starting. And parents will see something start to happen.”
So at least the community and the parents have been leading us on. Nice to know something is finally starting to happen.
My daughter moved on to Dana last September, but it’s great news to hear this is finally getting done. Also a huge kudos to the volunteers who’ve been enforcing a makeshift crosswalk for the last few years…now if they can only do something about the parents who feel it’s okay to park their cars and walk away from them in the tiny slice of the street designated as a drop-off-only zone.
A raised walkway? Like a bridge? Why do they have to dig up the street? Is it because of the electrical needed for the light overhead? Also, what about a crosswalk in front of the toddler playground at Ebers and Saratoga? One is sorely needed, preferably the kind with speed bumps. Drivers are really aggressive on that section of the road.
I have to agree with you, Catherine. I can see the curb ramps and the light that’s already in, but digging up the street for special paving looks like unnecessary work, when reflective striping did the job, albeit without the lighting specified in the code. Speaking of the code, the Council has the power to make exceptions for safety in a school zone and coulda/shoulda allowed the striping to remain, even without the lighting. Some safety is better than none, which is what was provided when the striping was removed.