Culver City : City to Seek Traffic Grants

The city will pursue capital improvement grants through the County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to widen Overland Avenue, create a bike path and synchronize traffic signals along Washington Boulevard.

Last month, the City Council had rejected an invitation from the city of Los Angeles to participate in the Overland Avenue project, citing concerns that improvements would invite traffic and uncontrolled development.

But Monday, the council members reconsidered and voted 3 to 2 to submit a joint grant application with Los Angeles.

“For a long time, this city has been wanting to do this,” said Councilman Mike Balkman, who voted for the project both times. “I can’t think of a better way to get this done.”

Overland Avenue is heavily used as a thoroughfare between Culver City and the Santa Monica Freeway, despite a chronic bottleneck where it narrows to two lanes between Venice and Palms boulevards in Los Angeles. It is four lanes wide through most of Culver City, and widens again to four lanes from Palms Boulevard to the freeway.

The bike path project targets a two-thirds-of-a-mile stretch of abandoned railway between Elenda Street and Sawtelle Boulevard. The 60-foot-wide strip would include a bike path, jogging trail and landscaping. It would join the Venice Boulevard bike path and the Ballona Creek bike path.

The traffic control grant would extend an existing Washington Boulevard traffic synchronization project from the San Diego Freeway to Lincoln Boulevard.