An environmental impact report released by Caltrans sheds new light on plans to rebuild the stretch of Lincoln Boulevard which crosses over Ballona Creek.

This .61-mile segment of Lincoln Boulevard, which is a part of Pacific Coast Highway, spans between Fiji Way to the north and Jefferson Boulevard to the south. The project, billed as a means to improve circulation and safety, would involve the construction of an additional southbound travel lane, while also adding sidewalks, protected bicycle lanes, lighting, landscaping, and signage along the length of the corridor. This option would also require the demolition and replacement of the existing Culver Boulevard bridge which crosses Lincoln, as well as a widening of the Lincoln Bridge over Ballona Creek.

Current view of Lincoln Boulevard looking northwest toward Ballona CreekCaltrans

This build option for Lincoln would also relocate the street's centerline approximately 50 feet to the east, and provide a striped center median which could accommodate a center-running transit line. Measure M, approved by L.A. County voters in 2016, includes a provision for an 8.8-mile bus rapid transit line along Lincoln between LAX and Downtown Santa Monica - albeit with a far-off opening date of 2047. That corridor could be converted to light rail in the even more distance 2060s.

The roughly $89-million project is projected to be built over a roughly three-year period, commencing by January 2027 and concluding by December 2029. A portion of that project cost would be covered by $2.5 million in developer impact fees allocated to Lincoln Boulevard by former 11th District City Councilmember Mike Bonin in 2022.

Future view of Lincoln Boulevard looking northwest toward Ballona CreekCaltrans

The proposed expansion and redesign of Lincoln comes more than two decades after the California Coastal Commission rejected a prior proposal to widen the same stretch of Lincoln to accommodate expected new traffic from the buildout of Playa Vista and the LAX master plan. However, that plan had called for a larger right-of-way - upwards of 174 feet in the original plan versus 130 feet in the current proposal - and included smaller sidewalks and bike lanes, without connections to the Ballona Creek bike trail or Culver Boulevard.

Follow us on social media: 

Twitter / Facebook / LinkedIn / Threads / Instagram