A Bridge Across the "Trench of Doom"

Every "Trench of Doom" (Jeff Tumlin) needs a solid bridge across it. Our own "Trench of Doom" is called Interstate 10. It contains a steady flow of fast moving, smelly vehicles which transport humans who should be walking and cycling, if their doctors and good sense could only get them out of their cars. We have some bridges across this dark stream of traffic, but most of them are not very inviting for pedestrians and cyclists, some of them (Lincoln, 4th Street) are downright dangerous and beastly.

SAMOHI students suffer from a lack of bicycle facilities. The school is right next to the interstate. Those who want to do the right thing and take the bike to school have fast and furious drivers on Lincoln to deal with. On top of it, our local police enforces the sidewalk riding ordinance against anyone seen on the sidewalks of Lincoln. Safe Routes to School, where are you?

There is a solution. It is called the 7th Street Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge. This is a project which was included in the presentation by the planning department to the City Council on April 12, 2011. The staff report underlined the benefit of this bridge for SAMOHI, and its connectivity with Michigan Bike Boulevard to create a robust bike network. It would offer students a convenient path across the "Trench of Doom". Precisely what is needed in order to entice more people to leave the car at home!

In comes our representative of traditional car culture, and historian of local traffic. He is called Robert Holbrook, a member of the City Council since 1990, master of common sense and sometimes defender of the car culture of the 1960ies. Here is his 2010 election advert, depicting a freeway sign referring to our very own "Trench of Doom"

Election Advert, Nov 2010

These are the issues Holbrook raised during the Council meeting (Item 4-B, time counter at 3:09):

Let me ask you some questions. We had a 7th Street Bridge. It was a pedestrian and bike bridge and I think it also carried important utilities across the freeway and it was removed, - I think - because no-one used it. It had to be maintained and eventually they took it out. So I am sitting here thinking: if we had it, and they did not come, why would we build it - again, - ...

Indeed, why would you re-build a bridge that was of no use? Luckily, Mr Holbrook's recollection is not quite correct. The Bike and Pedestrian Bridge (Caltrans # 53-1593) was removed in 1991, not in order to save the maintenance costs of an under-utilized structure, but in order to create a new, eastbound 4th Street Exit Ramp for cars who use the "Trench of Doom". The Los Angeles Times from September 13, 1992 lays it out nicely, even though it does not tell the whole story how pedestrian and bicycle interests have lost out against the car drivers who would not be satisfied with Pico access to school.

What is most obvious sometimes becomes invisible. Call it the White Elephant phenomenon. Cars seem to be the most natural thing in the world for some, and questions about alternatives to cars are mentally uncomfortable and hard. Let us listen some more to the politician who carries interstate signage on his election advert:

Have kids changed? Because, when I was young, well, it's a long time ago, but I, but at some point they want to get off bikes and drive, or drive to school if they could, ride to school with a car. How many kinds ride their bikes to school today ?

Yes, the kids have changed. They have started to understand that the car is not always a good idea, and sometimes a very bad idea. The kids have seen the "Trench of Doom" and they have embraced the environmental benefits of cycling. SAMOHI Solar Alliance has organised a series of very successful bike and walk to school events, which seek to question the old notion that at some point they want to get off bikes and drive. The last, district-wide Bike-It Day in October 2010 was a celebration of independence from cars, where kids, partent and staff participated enthusiastically. Today, bikes are no longer for kids only, bikes are part of the active, healthy, community oriented, environmentally conscious life-style which the modern Santa Monica represents.

But let us go back to the new offramp for cars, for which the pedestrian and bike bridge was sacrificed. Every Interstate needs an off-ramp you may say. Next time you roll on the I-10, just count those on- and off-ramps, and ask yourself why they are so many and so close to each other in Santa Monica, when in Los Angeles they are three or four miles apart. Twenty years ago, when then decision for the new off-ramp was made, the car was king and children got their drivers license in kindergarden. Today the car is no longer king, and the time may come when we think about sacrificing some of those ramps to the "Trench of Doom" in order to achieve a "Path of Happiness" for our cyclists.

The moral? Bob Holbrook is our longest serving man on the city council. He is formerly a member of the Board of Education (1983 -1990), a recipient of the High School Distinguished Alumnus Award for Community Service, a pharmacist by profession for whom the health benefits of active transportation must be evident, and surely a supporter of Safe Routes to School. Bob is not the only dedicated follower of California Car Culture in our city. But on reflection they will see the need for a robust bicycle network which can entice more and more citizens to leave the car at home for those shorter trips. We have built the interstate network to entice people into cars, now we need to build the bike network to allow them to make the short trips without a car.

Tebb Kusserow, former SAMOHI coach and supporter of Holbrook's election campaign, rode his bicycle four times up Mount Haleakala, and is rumored to have taught bicycle skills to his students at SAMOHI. Perhaps he is the one who could to teach Bob Holbrook a lesson about Safe Routes to School. Because who would want to be mistaken for a car salesman?