North Long Beach’s main arterial road, Artesia Boulevard, will be getting a long-awaited and much-needed facelift to increase pedestrian safety and connectivity with the rest of the city.
Long Beach City Council approved the Artesia Great Boulevard Project Tuesday night, a $36.2 million process that will focus on increasing pedestrian safety, bus stop improvements, ADA-compliant curbs and sidewalks, irrigation and landscape improvements as well as decreasing traffic.
Vice Mayor Rex Richardson, whose district includes much of North Long Beach, spoke to the condition of the corridor and how past district 9 councilmembers have pointed out the need for the “transformative project” for decades.
“My successor said, ‘Uptown should be a preview to Downtown and the condition of Artesia Boulevard is shameful’ and that was 12 years ago,” Richardson said. “It’s going to help activate the corridor, help it flourish.”
The project is one of four major corridor enhancement plans the City has in the pipeline. The Market Street plan has already begun construction, and following the approval of the Artesia Great Boulevard project, the Anaheim Street and Studebaker Road corridors are slated next.
One major focus of the project is to make the 3.2-mile stretch friendly to all modes of transportation including driving, walking, biking or riding a scooter. Medians in the corridor will be modified to allow the creation of protected bike lanes without reducing the number of driving lanes.
Councilmember Stacey Mungo said it’s in line with the goal to provide a path that allows residents to use the bike lanes to travel to any point in the City.
Construction is expected to begin in December and can take anywhere from 12 to 15 months, said Public Works Director Eric Lopez. Most of the funding for the project is coming from Measures R and A, along with various other tax revenue sources and grants from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Improvements also include transit facilities and bus shelters at 18 different locations. Transit Signal Priority technology will be implemented as well—wireless communication that can advance or extend the green light on a traffic signal when a bus is running behind schedule.
In order to increase pedestrian safety, the City will be installing bulb-outs, sidewalks that extend into the street and make the roads narrower.
“I know for a fact Artesia Boulevard is a strategic piece in our city as far as investment,” Councilmember Al Austin said. “It’s gratifying after 10 years on the council to see this move forward. For those in North Long Beach who don’t recognize it today, North Long Beach is relevant in City Hall and we’re putting our money where our mouth is.”
