While residents on and near Pearl Street praise local law enforcement for traffic control assistance around SMC, other areas heavily affected by local school traffic are completely ignored, causing gridlock, frustration and headaches for neighboring residents.

Among the worst traffic in Sunset Park is the two-block long stretch of Maple St. between 14th & 16th.

In addition to the ever-increasing SMC traffic, Maple Street is also assaulted by JAMS & Will Rogers traffic, as it’s the ONLY east-west through street between Pico & Ocean Park, other than Pearl. This small, residential road becomes jammed with multiple double-parkers, clogged with cars turning both directions at both ends of the street, and packed with students and others camping out in their cars for hours in permit-only spaces (without permits or any parking enforcement, of course), using Maple Street as a rest area and taking parking away from residents. They just park, sit in their cars, read, eat, sleep, and wait for either class time to roll around or permit parking time to end. No parking enforcement, no police, no worries!

SMPD has not responded to residents’ requests for traffic and parking control, claiming they have no officers available. That’s because they’re all assigned to Pico and Pearl.

It would be time well-spent if the SMPD could send even one officer to take a look at Maple St. during a school day, and even better if they’d stop by around the time JAMS lets out. If they can get there, that is. It’s never been this bad.

SMC is simply too big for this little neighborhood. Something has to be done to curtail enrollment & reduce traffic. Maybe instead of trying to attract 30,000+ students from all over the world, the city could focus on students in the immediate community. As in COMMUNITY College! What a concept! This isn’t an “SMC was here first” thing; it’s an unchecked growth thing. SMC has taken over Sunset Park, and that’s not right. We didn’t need (or need to pay for) residential parking permits 25 years ago. We didn’t have speed bumps or curb extensions or traffic chokers or parking meters on every side street. We didn’t need a traffic light at Pico & 16th. We didn’t have all the streets between Pico & Pearl closed to through traffic and turned into cul-de-sacs. That’s not progress, it’s out-of-control growth. Why are Maple Street residents stuck with 100% of the through traffic? The fact that we need multiple traffic control signs and warnings on Pico and extra officers to monitor surrounding streets should be a clue that SMC is too big! Do we need to hit the city council over the head any harder than that?

The current city government focuses all its energy on beach hotels, Third Street Promenade retailers and restaurants, mega-business parks, a dangerous airport and an overcrowded, bursting-at-the-seams “Community” College. It’s no longer a city that cares about its residents (unless you’re north of Wilshire), and it’s certainly not the wonderful, laid-back, largely undeveloped beach town that I knew and loved for over a quarter-century.

What a shame.

Steve Schwab, Sunset Park