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June 20, 2007
Max Taves ,
During a meeting last week, Pacific Palisades Community Council members expressed outrage over the city of Santa Monica's current yet un-finalized plans to rebuild the California Incline ahead of a public hearing this week.
The Council unanimously approved a motion'the second since last June'that calls for a change to those plans that will mitigate expected effects of traffic on Palisades residents. And it also implores Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl to make the Incline a 'high priority of the city of Los Angeles in its dealings with the city of Santa Monica.'
At the council meeting, Santa Monica engineers presented some of the preliminary plans for the structurally unsound Incline. Some of those plans confirmed the fears of many council members, who say Santa Monica plans will ignore the effects Palisades residents.
According to Santa Monica Engineer Mark Cuneo, there might be a five-month overlap in construction between the Incline project and a bluffs restructuring plan, requiring that one lane of PCH be closed to protect workers. Also, a traffic signal could be installed at 415 PCH before Incline construction begins.
'If you look at this project,' said Vice-Chair Richard Cohen, 'the overwhelming costs are going to hit residents of L.A. And the clear benefits are going to the residents of Santa Monica. We ought to raise hell! We have to stay on our elected leaders.'
Among many other complaints, members want Santa Monica to complete improvement of the bluffs before it begins working on the Incline; they want the city to reconfigure the Ocean Avenue-Moomat Ahiko Way intersection to allow two right-turn lanes; and they fear that a traffic signal at 415 PCH during Incline construction will create more congestion. Members also want to require around-the-clock construction and provide a bonus for early completion.
Santa Monica's plans for Incline construction are not yet complete. In order to proceed with construction, the city is required to answer community concerns before the project can begin.
See next week's issue for full coverage of Santa Monica's public hearing.
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To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call ext. 28.
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