While opponents of Playa Vista fear the shrinking of the picturesque wetlands surrounding Ballona Creek, others opposing the 1,087-acre development fear another not-so-pretty sight the increased frequency of brake lights.
Developer Playa Capital Co. LLC is faced with the daunting task of mitigating the traffic effects of an additional 6,500 residents and 8,600 workers on a Lincoln corridor already crowded by recent Marina del Rey-area growth and airport traffic.
The development’s first 705 residential units are scheduled to be on line next February, while Phase I of the project, in which 3,200 housing units and 3.2 million square feet of commercial space are slated to be built over the next four years, has been approved.
“Nobody can reasonably argue that the traffic situation is going to get better,” said Bruce Robertson, director of Mar Vista-based Ballona Valley Preservation League, which opposes the project.
But it’s an argument Playa Vista officials are more than willing to make.
Steve Ross, Playa Vista’s director of planning and entitlement, believes that the developer has taken the necessary steps to offset the expected influx of cars.
“All of the traffic impacts are fully mitigated,” said Ross.
Among the steps the developer has taken or committed to:
– Widening Lincoln and Jefferson boulevards, which form the axis of the project.
– Improvement of 75 nearby intersections by adding turn lanes, and adding, upgrading and synchronizing traffic lights.
– Creating additional streets that run parallel to Lincoln and Jefferson boulevards, as well as extending the Marina (90) Freeway over Culver Boulevard.
All told, Playa Capital plans to spend $97 million on improvements to local roadways.
Additionally, the developer has agreed to purchase and pay for 15 years of operating costs for five buses for Santa Monica Big Blue Bus’ No. 3 line, increasing the Lincoln Boulevard line’s daily capacity by 3,300 riders.
Dan Dawson, marketing and public information coordinator for the city of Santa Monica Big Blue Bus, said each liquefied natural gas bus will cost $350,000, while annual costs will run $150,000 per year, per bus.
Traffic projections disputed
With the added infrastructure, proposed ride sharing programs and the potential for residents to work within Playa Vista, Ross estimated “a net result of about 20 percent less traffic than would come from a typical development of this size in a suburban setting.”
It’s a projection that has some shaking their heads.
In its Environmental Impact Report for Phase 1 of the project, prepared nearly a decade ago, Playa Vista developers projected four car trips per day per Playa Vista resident and worker. (An EIR for Phase 2 is in the works, though no delivery date has been set.)
“For them to say that their project is going to improve things is just ludicrous,” said Robertson.
And while Loyola Marymount University Professor Fernando Guerra views Playa Vista as “one of the most responsible developments ever proposed,” the 16-year Westchester resident acknowledged that no planning could nullify the traffic effect of the community.
“It’s pie in the sky to believe that every resident is going to work within Playa Vista,” said Guerra, who is director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles for the university. “There’s no doubt that traffic will increase.”
Compounding concerns has been the rapid commercial and residential growth of the Lincoln corridor, particularly developments like the Costco-anchored shopping center on Washington Boulevard east of Lincoln and Home Depot on Jefferson Boulevard, also east of Lincoln.
And, up until the attacks of Sept. 11, passenger traffic at LAX was on a steady rise, increasing by 43 percent between 1992 and 2000.
Estimates fall short
As a result, traffic on nearby highways has increased more rapidly than expected.
Playa Vista’s Phase 1 EIR projected peak hour traffic volume at the 405 Freeway at La Tijera Avenue excluding potential Playa Vista-related increases would hit 14,000 cars per hour in 2002.
But Caltrans reports that volume already had hit 19,500 last year. Similarly, last year’s Marina Freeway peak hour traffic volume exceeded the projections for 2002 by 19 percent.
“One of the things we have to watch out for is the other developments in the area,” said Ruth Lansford, president of Playa del Rey-based Friends of Ballona Wetlands, which supports Phase 1. While noting that the organization has yet to sign off on any development beyond Phase 1, the one-time development opponent noted that Playa Vista has worked extensively to mitigate both traffic and traffic-related environmental effects of the project.
Guerra sees Playa Vista as a lesser of two evils in the ongoing attempts to solve the housing shortage problem on the Westside.
“One could say it’s better to (build Playa Vista) than to utilize 10,000 uninhabited acres on the fringes of L.A. County,” said Guerra, who said that building on the outskirts would ultimately produce more pollution and traffic by lengthening commutes.
Still, environmentalists contend that the traffic created by Playa Vista threaten the Wetlands’ ecosystem as much as Playa Vista itself.
“Do the aggregate benefits justify the aggregate costs, including the external costs imposed on neighbors?” asked James Moore, a professor at USC’s School of Policy, Planning and Development. “It is very likely that they do.” But Moore cautioned against the belief that traffic mitigation could realistically be achieved by Playa Vista.
“No society has never built their way out of congestion, and Playa Vista will be no exception,” said Moore.
