The North Westwood Neighborhood Council approved an updated design for a bike lane project intended to reduce cycling accidents for cyclists in West Los Angeles, including Westwood and Santa Monica.

The Ohio Avenue Safety and Mobility Project will include a 1.3 mile two-way bike lane, neighborhood greenways with low-speed and low-traffic streets and turn-lane restrictions. Construction is slated to begin between 2026 and 2027, but has no estimated completion date.

The project aims to connect Santa Monica and Westwood for cyclists. Ohio Avenue is the only east to west street without on or off ramps that stretches to the 405 Freeway, according to the LA Department of Transportation.

It was originally proposed by LA DOT following outreach in 2022.

The project is an example of California’s shift to support safe cycling initiatives since the 1970s, said Juan Matute, the deputy director of the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies. People have begun to see biking as an inexpensive alternative to owning a car, and eventually, as a way to fight climate change, Matute added.

Vision Zero – an initiative started in Sweden which aspires to eliminate fatalities and acute injuries from transportation crashes across the globe – also contributed to an uptick in biking safety initiatives, Matute said. Lawmakers generally weigh safety more heavily in transportation policymaking than before, he added.

The NWWNC approved the redesign during its January meeting.

Connor Webb, the chair of the NWWNC’s Transportation, Environment and Public Space committee, said the first part of the project includes implementing physical dividers that separate the bike lane from parking and travel lanes. The second part focuses on creating a neighborhood greenway at Westgate, where Santa Monica Boulevard borders Ohio Avenue.

The plan will also create restricted left turns at four intersections along Ohio Avenue – Barrington Avenue, Federal Avenue, Sawtelle Boulevard and Veteran Avenue – which Webb said the NWWNC believes will improve safety.

The addition of protected left turns at Sepulveda Boulevard and Westwood Boulevard will mitigate the restrictions, Webb said.

The Ohio Avenue Safety and Mobility Project is connected to two similar road safety projects: the proposed Westwood Boulevard Safety and Mobility Project and the Broadway Safety Project, which is currently under construction in Santa Monica.

A driver hit a cyclist and crashed into 99 Ranch – a grocery store located near the Westwood Boulevard and Rochester Avenue intersection – Feb. 5, killing three people and injuring six.

The crash prompted calls from transportation safety advocates for a protected bike lane on the street. Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky called for the city to review the timeline for the Westwood Safety and Mobility Project, which would enhance safety for pedestrians and bikers on Westwood Boulevard between Le Conte Avenue and Exposition Boulevard, but is not expected to be implemented until 2027.

“It is going to be a very important project because, as we saw with the accident at the 99 Ranch last week, that was prompted because a driver hit a bicyclist and then hit the store,” said Winston Li, co-director of Bruins for Better Transit.

[Related: Car crashes into 99 Ranch Market, killing at least 3 people, injuring at least 6]

Commuter patterns indicate that a significant portion of UCLA staff, faculty and students commute to Westwood from Santa Monica daily, Webb said, making the project especially important to the university community.

“A lot of the reasons that people want to take public transit but don’t is because of time, and so, if we can make options that are a lot more competitive with or without traffic, … people will be encouraged to take transit to get around instead of having to drive or take an Uber or Lyft,” said Li, a fourth-year political science and statistics and data science student.

The California Department of Transportation controls three blocks on Santa Monica Boulevard called the Ohio to Ohio Gap, Webb said. However, CalTrans is currently focused on another project and does not have to comply with the city’s plan, Webb added.

State Senator Ben Allen, Assembly Member Rick Zbur and Santa Monica Mayor Caroline Torosis wrote several letters urging CalTrans to invest in the Ohio Avenue Safety and Mobility project, Webb added.

“Caltrans really needs to step up on that,” Webb said. “It is ridiculous to have this three block gap on what is, arguably, the most dangerous part of the whole thing.”

Some pedestrian improvements are being added to the Ohio to Ohio gap, including crossing beacons and bus stop shelters, Webb said. However, safety protections for cyclists are still lacking, Webb said.

Westwood vetoed bike lanes on Westwood Boulevard 11 years ago as part of the Mobility Plan 2035. Li said he believes that that decision has led to preventable accidents – ones which policies, like the Ohio Avenue Safety and Mobility plan, will limit.

“It’ll help everyone,” he said. “If you know that there’s this infrastructure in place that’s going to make you safer from car traffic, which is the biggest cause of injuries and deaths for bikers, it’ll make it a lot more convenient.”