BY Nick Diamantides
Staff Writer
The long-awaited repaving of Atlantic Avenue between Bixby Road and San Antonio Drive is scheduled to begin on Monday, March 23. The $2,514,000 project will take about three months to complete.
The City of Long Beach has hired Willdan Engineering (based in the City of Industry) to coordinate the phases of the project and to speak to business owners. “We want to keep disruption to a minimum, make sure all the business owners know what to expect and listen to their concerns,” said Chris Baca, Willdan’s vice president. “We have been walking up and down Atlantic Avenue and talking to people in person.”
“Obviously the business owners are concerned about how the repaving will impact them, especially during this economic recession,” said Jason Brown, a Willdan supervisor assigned to the project. “For the most part they have been really positive and understand that we are doing everything possible to provide access and parking for all their customers.”
Baca explained that on March 23 crews will be removing the cross gutters— the concrete ribbons that are in place along some of the side streets between Bixby and San Antonio. “Those will start getting removed and replaced, however, parking will be maintained in the north and south number-two lanes, which are the parking lanes during the first part of the project,” he said.
After the cross gutters are removed and replaced, the second phase of the project will begin. “At that point, they will actually remove the number-two lanes on both sides of Atlantic,” Baca said. “When that work is being done, which should take about 10 to 15 days, there will be no parking on Atlantic Avenue.” He added that the removal and replacement of the parking lane will begin around the end of April.
“Most of the businesses have access and parking in the back,” Baca said. “We are working with businesses that don’t [have rear parking] to find alternate parking. They are notifying their customers to park on side streets, that sort of thing.”
He added that so far no one has expressed concern over the temporary disruption to parking. “The business owners are very positive about it,” Baca said. He explained that after the existing parking lane is removed crews will install a new concrete underlay and later cover it with asphalt.
“When that phase of the work is done, the entire rest of street will undergo a grinding,” Baca said. “A big machine called a grinder will come in and grind off the asphalt. Then two layers of asphalt will be put on.”
He noted that the grinding and repaving will begin in May and take about 10 days. “I think we can do this during the day with one traffic lane open in each direction,” Baca said. “But if the street ever has to be completely closed, that will be done at night.”
He said that he expects the entire project will be completed by early July. “But for the most part it will be done by the end of June,” he said. “There will just be minor things being done after the main part of the job is completed.”
Baca stressed that it is important for residents to continue shopping in Bixby Knolls during the road construction. “There will be access to the businesses. They will be able to park in the back and on the side streets, and there will be signs directing people to parking locations,” he said. “ We are really trying to get residents to continue to shop in Bixby Knolls.”
“The big picture is that when the repaving is all done, we are going to have a nice, smooth Atlantic Avenue with decorative pavers put in at three intersections, and I believe our new tree grates should be put in too,” said Blair Cohn, executive director of the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association. “It’s like a big facelift going on and it is going to benefit everybody.”
Cohn emphasized that the Atlantic Avenue repaving is coming at a time when budget woes are forcing the city to cut back many infrastructure improvement projects. “There may be a temporary interruption to the normal traffic flow, but we are fortunate to get the attention now,” he said. “If we were not doing this, eventually the street would be a nightmare. With new medians, fresh repaving and decorative pavers, we will keep moving forward with our efforts to make Bixby Knolls a more attractive place to shop and dine.”
