Driver Smashes Plastic Bollards on Santa Monica’s 23rd Street Bike Lane

Bicycle advocates have long argued that using plastic bollards to separate bicycles from automobile traffic is better than nothing, but that only concrete barriers will truly protect bicyclists. Sadly, this case is too often made when bicyclists in these “protected” lanes are hurt, or worse, by negligent, scofflaw, or intentionally violent drivers.

That case was made clearly, although less painfully, on 23rd Street in Santa Monica over the weekend. Redditor The_Naj took the above video, used here with his permission, explains (emphasis added):

This was last Sunday August 9. Called the non emergency number but they never followed up for the video. They turned off the road when they saw me trying to get the plates after this. Hoping someone on here recognizes the car

The disrespect for the plastic bollards by drivers isn’t contained to just one driver behaving badly.

I saw someone parked on top of one in downtown today 😭 it was all jammed under their car, still attached to the ground just folded over

video embed above

Santa Monica has a history of being ahead of the curve when it comes to installing safe transportation infrastructure. It’s past time to consider upgrading the quality of these protected bike lanes.

While concrete protection is ideal (and already used by Santa Monica nearby), facilities like 23rd Street might benefit from rigid low plastic barriers – sometimes called “armadillos” – similar to some protected bike lanes in Culver City, Los Angeles, and Barcelona. These are less expensive than concrete, and can be installed fairly quickly.

Brief History of 23rd Street Bike Lanes

The 23rd Street bikeway is part of Santa Monica’s longer effort to build a network of safer, more comfortable bicycle routes. The city’s original 2011 Bike Action Plan called for expanding the bicycle network. Its 2020 amendment put a greater emphasis on protected facilities, identifying priority corridors where physical separation could make biking more accessible to people of different ages and abilities.

The 23rd Street corridor had already been identified as a bicycle route. Circa 2017, the city added basic unprotected bike lanes. Then, in December 2021, Santa Monica added plastic bollard protection between Ashland Avenue and Airport Avenue. The 23rd Street bikeway extends roughly a half-mile between Ocean Park Boulevard the the Los Angeles city limit, connecting to existing bicycle networks in both Santa Monica and L.A.

The project used plastic bollards and green pavement to separate people riding bikes from moving vehicles. At Ashland 23rd’s protected treatment ends, with an uphill bike lane and downhill shared-lane markings extending to Ocean Park Boulevard. 23rd Street was one of several early steps in Santa Monica’s broader effort to move beyond conventional bike lanes toward a citywide protected network.

A version of this post first appeared at SBLA sister site Santa Monica Next.