A Safer Prospect Avenue

Prospect Avenue in Redondo Beach is a key North/South route along the inland portion of the city connecting Districts 1, 2, and 3. It spans approximately 3 miles in the city from Anita to PCH, and continues onward into Hermosa Beach. Currently, the street is configured with wide lanes for cars and sees frequent speeding and undesignated truck traffic. Despite the numerous residences and schools along the corridor, the street poses formidable safety concerns to people on foot or bike.

• 11 schools within a block of Prospect - total enrollment 6,996:
  • Redondo Union High - Grades 9-12 (2,925)
  • Parras Middle - Grades 6-8 (1,100)
  • Alta Vista Elementary - Grades TK-5 (551)
  • Tulita Elementary - Grades TK-5 (444)
  • Beryl Heights Elementary - Grades TK-5 (421)
  • Peninsula Montessori (249)
  • St. Lawrence Martyr School - Grades TK-8 (314)
  • Tuvia School of Temple Menorah - PreK - K (79)
  • Bishop Montgomery High School (Torrance) - Grades 9-12 (850)
  • Playhouse Preschool and Kindergarten (18)
  • Patricia Dreizler Continuation High School (45)
• At least five churches/temples
• Commercial points of interest including grocery, retail, restaurant, and medical offices
• Wide existing right-of-way (4-5 car lanes + street parking)
• Speeding is a common concern among residents and the leading cause of crashes in the past five years

In 2011, the South Bay Bicycle Master Plan proposed Class II bike lanes on Prospect. In 2023, the SBBC+ updated the Master Plan to call for Class IV protected bike lanes due safety concerns with vehicle speeds, number of lanes, and street parking. Read more about this  here .

In this proposal, we outline a community proposal for a Safer Prospect Avenue to serve all modes: cars, pedestrians, and bicycles. This proposal has been developed by community members, parents, neighbors, and advocates in Redondo Beach. We are asking the city council to initiate a transportation study and corridor design for a "Complete Streets" configuration on Prospect Ave.

Current conditions along the three-mile-long Prospect Ave corridor result in an average of 13.8 crashes per year (69 crashes over the 5 year period between 1/2019 - 12/2023).

Collision data has been queried from the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) using UC Berkeley's  Transportation Injury Mapping System (TIMS) . This reflects collisions that resulted in a police report.

* Automobile right of way refers to a collision where the at-fault party made a maneuver that did not respect the right-of-way of a vehicle.

Prospect Avenue is a key connector route, and a missing link in our widely-used and growing bicycle network. Coupled with the widespread adoption of e-bikes for transportation among Redondo Beach adults, youth, and seniors, protected bike lanes on Prospect would reduce car traffic and improve safety for everyone on the road.

• Biking as transportation is rapidly growing in the South Bay, bolstered by e-bikes.
  • To adapt to this change and improve safety, this growth can be complimented by a network of safe protected bike lanes. Prospect Ave is a key part of this network.
• Density of schools along the corridor is an opportunity to reduce pickup/dropoff traffic by converting car trips to bike trips.
  • 5% of RUHS biked to school in 2023. This rose to 10% in 2024.
  • And it's not just school traffic: summer camps, parks, and churches along this corridor also generate trips!
  • Studies in cities across the US have shown that when protected bike lanes are built,  50-200%  more people use them due to the safer configuration.
• Dedicated and protected bike lanes physically separate road users of different speeds.
  • Pedestrians - don't need to worry about  bikes on the sidewalk 
  • Bikers - encouraged to use high quality bike lanes
  • Drivers - fewer conflict zones and better visibility
• Lane reduction and narrowing have been shown to:
  •  Reduce speeding 
  • Shorten intersection crossing distances/times for pedestrians

By reducing from four to two drive lanes with a center median, a protected bike lane can be added to each side while maintaining street parking and intersection turn lanes.

The center turn lane could be converted to a green median with trees and/or other native plants, except for left turn lanes at intersections. The presence of the median would visually narrow the lanes and slow drivers down.

Here's a comparison what this could look like in a typical cross section of Prospect:

Above is an example of a "Complete Streets" configuration with parking-protected/curb-protected bike lanes (Class IV). If enough funding is available, the sidewalks could be widened and bike lanes could be at curb level.

Here's what this could look like between Del Amo Blvd and Diamond Street where there is also a frontage road.

Above diagrams are community-created configurations based on road width. You can make your own on Streetmix copying  this one here . Alternate configurations would include two-way protected cycle tracks, curb-level bike lanes, and parking-protected bike lanes with hardened barriers.

Exact specifications and design configurations would be determined with a full corridor study by professional transportation consultants that specialize in Complete Streets designs. The study would incorporate traffic counts and parking counts, input from residents and community members, as well as city circulation and sustainability goals, to determine the most feasible and cost-effective designs.

The city can allocate a portion of its 2025-26 budget towards this project and apply for additional funding through state and county active transportation grants. But this process starts with community-driven advocacy and city council support.

• Safer street → more bikers → fewer car trips, especially for morning and afternoon school pick-up/drop-off
• Prospect serves between  7,600 and 18,200 vehicles per day 
  • Streets with  <20,000 vehicles per day  are considered good candidates for the proposed configuration per the Federal Highway Administration
• Bikes in bike lanes are a  more space-efficient means of transportation  with up to around 8x higher capacity compared to a typical car lane

1. Sign onto  this campaign  to add your name in support of this proposal.
2. Email your councilmember asking them to advance a Prospect Ave Mobility Corridor Study, including a budget allocation for the 2025-26 fiscal year budget.
   1. District 1: Brad Waller
   2. District 2: Chadwick Castle
   3. District 3: Paige Kaluderovic
   4. District 4: Zein Obagi Jr.
   5. District 5: Scott Behrendt
   6. Mayor: Jim Light
3. Share the petition with your neighbors.
4. Ask your school group, religious community, sports team, scouts group, or other organization to sign on to the campaign.