Roadwork to widen Cherry Avenue moving along 'on schedule'

Sean Belk
Staff Writer

Efforts to widen a portion of Cherry Avenue from Pacific Coast Highway to 19th Street are moving along “on schedule,” a Signal Hill city official confirmed last week.
In a brief update to the Signal Hill City Council on Thursday, March 5, Public Works Director Steve Myrter said the project, which began in January, has experienced “no surprises” so far. Although construction was held up briefly by a few rainy days, the City was able to complete other tasks in the meantime.
Myrter noted that the intersection of PCH and Cherry Avenue, where a temporary traffic signal has been installed, is at a “low spot” that doesn’t drain well in heavy rain, but the small amount of rain so far this year has allowed the project to move forward smoothly.
“It’s going to be tricky in the rainy season,” he said. “We knew that. Unfortunately, with our funding in line, we had no choice but to move forward, and we will proceed as we can, but the project is on schedule at this point.”

The $6.7-million project, which has been in the works for nearly 15 years and was funded entirely by state and federal grants, proposes to widen Cherry Avenue from PCH to 19th Street by 10 feet, creating a second lane in each direction in order to alleviate a bottleneck that for years has caused gridlock during peak traffic hours.
During the first phase of construction, traffic along the section of Cherry Avenue will be squeezed to just one lane in each direction, he said. According to city staff, roadwork is restricted to weekdays from 7am to 4pm and is expected to continue through June.
The work includes removing 18 inches of concrete on a section of the street and replacing it with asphalt while installing a new storm-drain pipeline that will eventually prevent flooding at PCH and Cherry Avenue during heavy rains, diverting water to Chittick Field, which is used as a stormwater-detention basin.
Myrter said that, until the new storm drain is installed on Cherry Avenue in the next few weeks, water would have to be pumped out.
City Manager Ken Farfsing noted that the City of Signal Hill has spearheaded the street improvement, acting as the project manager, after securing grants, however, a majority of the roadwork is technically located in the city of Long Beach.
Myrter said the City of Signal Hill has taken steps to inform nearby residents about the project by sending out about 1,200 letters and delivering 800 door hangers in the southeast neighborhood of Signal Hill.
He said the City has electronic signs to inform drivers, encouraging them to avoid Cherry Avenue while construction is underway and to, instead, take designated alternative routes, such as Atlantic or Redondo avenues for north and southbound traffic.
He said the City has also posted “local traffic only” signs at three intersections surrounding the project that are meant to inform drivers that they are entering a residential area.
Myrter added that Signal Hill is also planning to take additional measures to prevent drivers from cutting through residential areas, specifically to deter traffic down Junipero Avenue, which he said doesn’t have the capacity to handle heavy traffic.

The first measure the City is planning to implement is eliminating the left-hand turn from southbound Cherry Avenue to 19th Street. The downside, however, is that residents will also no longer be able to turn left onto 19th Street from Cherry Avenue, Myrter noted.
Another measure the City has already studied is adding a left-hand-turn signal at Cherry Avenue and 21st Street.
This measure, which he said was evaluated by the City’s traffic-safety committee before the project started, will force drivers to wait for the signal rather than just allowing the turn at the green light, improving traffic flow.
“It might help us discourage some cut-through traffic,” Myrter said. “There have been some concerns about this intersection, [and] this is something we’ve already been studying anyway, so we can go ahead and implement that.”
Councilmember Tina Hansen said she was “shocked” to see vehicles backed up from PCH to 21st Street down Junipero Avenue, where she lives, during peak traffic hours, adding that even more measures may need to be implemented.
“We may need to have somebody out there talking to drivers at some point just to say this is a residential area, this is not the detour for Cherry [Avenue],” Hansen said. “The perfect solution would be to have a barricade and to have somebody be there.”
Other Council highlights
Introductions Mayor Ed Wilson and Police Chief Michael Langston introduced Justin Moon and Richard Taylor, who have been hired as new Signal Hill police officers.
Presentations Wilson presented members of Camp Fire USA with a proclamation, recognizing the organization’s 105th birthday while members of Camp Fire USA presented Wilson and the City Council with a birthday cake. Wilson also presented Signal Hill homeowners Michael and Estelle Ashworth with the City’s Sustainability Award for installing drought-tolerant landscaping at their home at 2070 Raymond Ave.
Pedestrian trail The Council voted unanimously (5-0) to approve the second reading of a zoning-ordinance amendment that reclassifies an approximate 60-foot-by-250-foot section of Creston Avenue, immediately west of Cherry Avenue, from a designation of “local street” to “pedestrian connection.” The zone change is part of a $535,000 project to build a “City View” park with a landscaped pedestrian trail, benches and an electronic monument sign.
Audit report The Council received and filed a report that the California State Controller has recently finished an audit on the City’s various transportation related funds, including state gas tax. The audit found that the City has “accounted for and expended these funds in compliance with State requirements and no adjustments were required,” according to a staff report.
Sewer project The Council received and filed a report on the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County’s $3.67-million project to install “force-main” underground sewer lines along a portion of Willow Street from Dawson to Orange avenues. City staff said the project, which requires that at least one eastbound traffic lane be closed on Willow Street, is behind by four months and should be completed by mid August.
Park security The Council voted unanimously (5-0) to enter into a three-year contract with Platt Security, Inc. to provide security services at city parks at a cost of $59,500 per year, with the possibility of an additional two-year contract extension. Since 2006, Platt Security has been contracted to provide security services at city parks that are only open from 5am to 10pm while working with the Signal Hill Police Department. According to a city staff report, Platt Security cleared 2,191 people and turned away 387 vehicles from Hilltop Park, the most frequented park in the city, because of its picturesque views,, during times when the park was closed in December 2014.
The next Signal Hill Council meeting is scheduled for 7pm on Tuesday, March 17 in the Council Chamber. ß