SANTA MONICA—City officials have given public notice of a plan to make a safe route for high school children riding bikes to and from Santa MonicaHigh School.

In a presentation shown to residents on October 22, Michigan Avenue, which runs east to west, ending on the east side of the high school is to become a one way street to avoid bike accidents with cars during the morning and afternoon hours. The route would gain a major transportation connection to the future light rail stop set at 17th Street and Santa Monica City College. Two bike lanes in opposite directions would be placed on either end leaving the street as a single lane. The city would be handed funds by the state from the “Safe Routes to School” grant with Santa Monica using an additional $100,000 from their project fund.

Residents living on the proposed street have voiced their concerns about the change, which could increase traffic because of the proximity of the Lincoln Boulevard/Pico Blvd intersection.  Santa Monica High School could suffer from the major use of Michigan Avenue’s ending curve to drop off students and cause excess traffic and delays.

The proposed “Michigan Avenue Greenway” would move towards construction during summer 2014, with a majority of the city council approving the project. Residents will have a say in how the greenway will benefit them from wider sidewalks to adding a park to the street in order to improve the neighborhood.