SANTA MONICA—The city of Santa Monica is initiating an outreach campaign to seek input on renovations for the Santa Monica Beach Trail.

The renovation project focuses on the northern portion of the trail, where Ocean Front Walk ends. Plans for improvements include new paving, seat walls, lighting, and better connections to and from the Pacific Coast Highway overpasses and the beach. The Santa Monica Beach Bike Path extends from Will Rogers State Beach, at its northern terminus, south through Venice and Marina Del Rey to the bridge that crosses Ballona Creek.

“Right now, it’s very confusing and very crowded so we want to deal with the public safety issues and make it much more clear so people know where to go,” said City Beach administrator Judith Meister to the Santa Monica Daily Press.

The renovation project focuses on improving the Marvin Braude Bike Trail, a shared path, making it safer and more user-friendly. The Beach Trail has several different conditions in Santa Monica. The Marvin Braude Bike Path is a 22-mile regional path connecting the Pacific Palisades south to Torrance.  In Santa Monica, north of California Avenue, the Marvin Braude Bike Path is a shared path for all users (yellow line) while south of California Avenue, it is a bike only path (green line).  Ocean Front Walk runs parallel to the Bike Path from California Avenue south to Venice and is for people walking (blue line).

The goal of the survey is meant to measure Beach Trail users’ perceptions of comfort, quality and desired access points along the Beach Trail between Bay Street and Santa Monica northern city limits. All information collected will be kept confidential. Ocean Front Walk, north of the Pier, will be renovated with new paving, lighting and better connections to and from the Pacific Coast Highway overpasses and the beach.

The shared bike path at the north end of the beach will be widened with a clearly defined separate path for pedestrians, and circulation along the bike path under the Pier and around the large parking lot north of the Pier will be modified to deal with increased pedestrian traffic.

On Sunday, April 9, from noon until 4 p.m., city staff will be on the trail, passing out surveys and interviewing users to gather input and suggestions.

The data collected will be used for initial design concepts and presented at a community workshop in May and June. The time and location of the meeting will be posted on the project’s website, at www.santamonicaparks.org/beach-trail

Users can also access the survey online at www.tiny.cc/SurveyNorthBeachTrail which will remain active until April 20.

Written By Melody Teng and Casey Jacobs