Dear Mayor and City Councilmembers,
We have lived on Coleman Avenue for more than ten years. We support the
parts of the pilot that are working. The speed cushions and Santa Monica
stop sign should remain, and we support the Complete Streets Commission’s
recommendation to physically protect the existing bike lane.
Eastbound kids still have no protected route
My concern is the eastbound route toward Willow. During the morning school
commute, cars routinely back up on Coleman waiting to turn onto Willow. The
same thing happens during the afternoon commute. Kids riding eastbound have
no bike lane and end up riding through the narrow gap between the line of
cars and parked cars on the south side of Coleman.
I’ve watched a mother take her children onto the sidewalk rather than ride
through that gap. I’ve watched a boy stop in my driveway and wait for
traffic to move before continuing. I’ve attached a two-minute video from
one morning a few weeks ago showing several of the situations families and
kids have to navigate. The same conditions exist during the afternoon peak
commute.
The City’s evaluation doesn’t measure this problem. It measures overall
bicycle and pedestrian counts, vehicle volumes, speeds, collisions, and
survey responses. More people biking on Coleman is good, but it doesn’t
tell us whether a child can safely get through the eastbound traffic queue
that backs up every morning and afternoon.
Coleman traffic doesn’t exist in isolation
I’ve lived on Coleman since before the peak-hour no-turn restrictions were
installed in the Willows during the Willow Road/101 bridge construction.
They were put in when traffic backed up through the Willows and residents
had trouble getting in and out of their driveways.
The construction ended in August 2019, but the 3–7 p.m. turn restrictions
onto Willow remain at Chester, Durham, and O’Keefe. Meanwhile, Willow Road
continues to carry significant traffic to the Dumbarton Bridge.
Those restrictions limit the streets that can access Willow during peak
hours. Traffic gets concentrated onto the streets that still can, including
Coleman and Bay. At the same time, the City calls Coleman an important Safe
Route to School.
*If Coleman is going to carry a significant amount of traffic to Willow,
kids riding toward Willow should not be left sharing a lane with that
traffic.*
I’m not suggesting moving Coleman’s traffic into the Willows. I’m asking
the City to revisit restrictions created years ago, look at how traffic is
distributed today, and decide whether that distribution still makes sense.
Street sweeping shouldn’t prevent bike protection
We also support the Commission’s recommendation for bollards or other
physical protection for the existing bike lane. Staff has raised street
sweeping as a reason not to install them. But the curb on the opposite side
of Coleman is almost continuously occupied by parked cars, and there is no
designated street-cleaning period requiring cars to move. The sweeper
typically comes before 7:30 a.m., when most cars are still parked. As a
result, there is rarely an opportunity for the sweeper to clean along the
curb on that side of Coleman anyway.
If street sweeping is the reason we can’t install a bike safety
improvement, then establish a recurring street-cleaning schedule that
requires cars to move so both sides can actually be cleaned. Otherwise, We
don’t understand why street sweeping should prevent the bollards.
The pilot’s assumptions haven’t held up
One last issue is how we characterize the pilot’s success. *The City’s own
data show that vehicle speeds did not meaningfully decline across most of
the corridor.* Residents also lost significant parking, expecting overnight
and 72-hour parking restrictions to be enforced.
We requested the City’s enforcement records. Overnight parking enforcement
actions averaged 28 per month from August through October 2025. From May
through July 2026, they averaged 9 per month. The 72-hour records show 43
abandoned-vehicle calls, with only two tows and one parking citation. I’ve
attached a graph of the enforcement data.
So we don’t think the question before Council is whether the pilot did some
good. It did. The question is whether we should make the current design
permanent without addressing the remaining problems.
*We are asking Council to address the eastbound bike conflict, review how
the surrounding turn restrictions affect traffic on Coleman, implement
physical protection for the existing bike lane, and commit to consistent
parking enforcement and a workable street-cleaning schedule for both sides
of the street.*
Thank you for your consideration,
Cassandra Lopez and James Loftus
Coleman Avenue residents
Coleman Ave Enforcement & 72 Hour Chart.jpg
Coleman Ave Compilation.mov
