Santa Monica's City Council voted 7-0 on Tuesday, Sept. 8, to approve a nearly $2 million contract for designing a protected bikeway on 14th Street.

The unanimous vote came despite opposition from former Mayor Phil Brock and a community group that warned the project would block emergency vehicle access near UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center.

The council awarded a $1,999,205 design contract to Kimley-Horn and Associates for a roughly 1.3-mile, two-way protected bikeway between Washington Avenue and Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica Next reported. The five-year agreement draws on three funding sources: $749,205 from a state Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities grant, $1.15 million from a Metro subregional grant and $100,000 from the St. John's Hospital development agreement.

As we reported Monday, Sept. 7, the item had been placed on the consent calendar. But the contract drew organized pushback before the vote.

Brock, a current council candidate, compared the proposal to the city's 17th Street bikeway project, which drew resident complaints about lost parking. He posted on X on Monday, Sept. 7:

@PhilBrock4SM: "The Santa Monica City Council is set to award a $1,999,205 contract to redesign 14th Street into a concrete-protected, two-lane bikeway. The same treatment residents fought on 17th Street."

In a separate statement reported by Santa Monica Next, Brock argued the street's role as an emergency corridor made it the wrong candidate for narrowing.

"14th Street runs unbroken from the top of the city to the bottom … Fire police, and paramedics use it daily, and UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center's emergency department is one block away on 15th Street," Brock said. "This is the wrong street to narrow and the wrong way to do it."

A group called Unsafe Streets SM, which describes itself on its website as "concerned community members," also urged the council to delay the contract and conduct additional studies. The group argued the project would "squeeze" 14th Street and raised concerns about emergency access, parking, ADA compliance and traffic circulation. The group has not publicly identified its leadership.

The contract covers design work only. The detailed configuration of the bikeway, intersections and crossings would be developed through a process that includes community engagement over the next two years, according to Santa Monica Next. Construction is targeted for fall 2028.

If built, the bikeway would connect the 17th Street Metro E Line station, Santa Monica College, Lincoln Middle School, Memorial Park and the Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway. The project was first approved as part of the city's Bike Action Plan in 2020.

The 17th Street project that Brock cited has had no major crashes since the protected lanes were installed, Santa Monica Next reported. No mixed-use travel lanes were removed in that project, which received the League of California Cities' 2024 Outstanding Local Streets and Roads Project Award.

Specific dates for community engagement sessions on the 14th Street design have not been announced. The two-year design phase would need to wrap before the fall 2028 construction target.