Colorado Esplanade

The newly-completed Colorado Esplanade, from
4th Street to Ocean Avenue, is a promenade designed to connect the Downtown
Expo Light Rail station, Tongva Park and one of the City’s most prominent
landmarks, the Santa Monica Pier, stitching the Civic Center and Downtown
Districts together across the freeway. The project addresses the community
vision for an integrated light rail system, easily accessed from key
destinations and by multiple travel modes.
Key project components include:
- Wide sidewalks on the
south side of Colorado Avenue to accommodate the additional pedestrians traveling
to and from the Downtown Expo Light Rail station;
- Intersection improvements
at 4th Street and Ocean Avenue for better pedestrian orientation and safety,
including pedestrian scramble crosswalks;
- The realignment of
Main and 2nd Streets to remove the complicated roadway jog;
- Wayfinding medallions
inlaid within the sidewalk to highlight popular destinations in the vicinity;
- And a separated
bicycle facility, or “cycle track,” to provide protected bike lanes in both
directions and fill a missing link between the Beach and Downtown.
The Expo Light Rail construction created
one-way westbound vehicle flow between 5th and 4th Streets, and the Colorado
Esplanade continues that one-way flow to the west, helping to streamline
vehicle flow in this busy area.
Peter Walker Partners, an
internationally-acclaimed landscape design firm, has applied a design palette
of defining elements (unique sidewalk pavers, framing trees and plant palette,
wayfinding elements and festival lighting to improve nighttime quality and
comfort) to form a street that unifies the functional components and orients
and directs people through integrated urban design. The result is a sequence of
paths, intersections and gateways that provide definition, meaning, improved
safety and functionality and a sense of place for people at this critical city
junction. Taking inspiration from Santa Monica’s historic Pier sign, the
reconfiguration improves the view of the sign and celebrates this unique
location at the edge of the continent. The Colorado Esplanade organizes
arrival/departure for drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians and bus and transit
patrons, while creating an iconic City gateway that integrates the Beach, Civic
Center and Downtown. Construction was partially funded by a grant from Metro.