City considers making Ocean View one way
Popular boulevard would be modified to make more room for runners, cyclists and walkers .
Pacific Grove will consider the idea of closing its main coastal access route to two-way traffic as well as other traffic calming measures in light of an increased number of motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians heading into the city.
City Councilwoman Cynthia Garfield raised the idea of shutting down one lane of Ocean View Boulevard, making it a oneway street and providing more room for the bevy of visitors all vying for space along the increasingly congested corridor along the city’s Recreation Trail.
The traffic is having a “massive impact on our community from the increased number of visitors driving, walking, and parking along our coastline,” Garfield said. “With stores and restaurants closed our visitors have had no other place to be except outdoor areas.”
The increased numbers of visitors have come to Pacific Grove because of the fewer options, Garfield said. Pebble Beach had closed 17 Mile Drive, Carmel restricted parking and access to its beach, state parks have been closed and Monterey closed their portion of the Rec Trail for a period of time.
The council, by a 4-3 vote, sent direction to the city’s Traffic and Safety Commission to develop ways in which one-way traffic could be implemented as well as other traffic calming solutions.
“This is the best way for us to handle the development of programs,” Garfield said. “The Traffic and Safety Commission works with the police, public works and the traffic engineer.”
As the vote suggests, the idea was not without its critics. The council members who opposed taking the idea any further — Mayor Bill Peake, Mayor Pro Tem Robert Huitt, Councilman Nick Smith — all question how prudent it was to spend money on what would become a larger study of the
feasibility during a time when the city is experiencing a financial emergency.
Peake noted that the city has higher priorities, particularly restoring funding for recreation and other programs cut because of the precipitous drop in city revenue caused by the shelter-in-place orders and the subsequent recession.
“Those are much higher priorities,” Peake said. “I can’t support it. Maybe later on, but not now that all the city budgets have been cut.”
Members of the public also weighed in on the idea. One caller into the recent council meeting suggested other measures, such as reducing the speed limit
on the street to 15 mph and adding stop signs to slow the speed of the traffic flow.
Another resident, Luke Coletti, cautioned that placing limits on Ocean View Boulevard would push traffic up into neighborhoods. He also doubted that the California Coastal Commission, which would have to sign off on any significant changes, would allow the idea. Coletti also joined others in opposing the idea for financial reasons.
“This is at best a lower priority,” Coletti said. “We need to focus on other things.”
Resident Kate Spencer suggested a program instituted in Washington, D.C.,
where streets through a city park are closed to cars for a half-day on Saturdays to allow bicyclists and others use the streets safely.
There also could be a commercial advantage to making Ocean View one way. Resident Joy Calangelo noted that if the traffic was made one way then it could be directed onto Lighthouse Avenue and into the commercial district that could benefit downtown merchants.
The Traffic and Safety Commission is expected to take up the issue later this month.