Long Beach officials are warning that, if voters do not approve a permanent extension of the Measure A sales-tax increase in March, the city will not be able to adequately address street-paving needs and road quality will rapidly degrade.
Long Beach residents who are tired of bumpy rides around town may have to pay to get local streets fixed themselves– at the cash register.
City officials are warning that, if voters do not approve an extension of Measure A in March, there could be even rougher roads ahead.
In July 2016, Long Beach voters approved the measure, allowing for a 10-year sales-tax increase aimed at improving public safety and infrastructure. Per a council resolution, after a 1% increase lasting six years, the sales tax would decline by a half-percent for four years and then expire in 2027.
However, the Long Beach City Council has placed a measure on the March 3, 2020 ballot that will ask voters to approve or reject a permanent extension of Measure A. The sales tax local shoppers pay will likely be the same, however, whether voters approve the new measure or not, officials say.
During a city council meeting last month, Assistant City Manager Tom Modica said the County of Los Angeles and the South Coast Air Quality Management District are expected to seek higher tax rates from residents and that the tax Long Beach residents would pay would be the same, no matter which entity receives the extra revenue.
“That [sales-tax] amount would still be 10.25%,” he said. “[The extra amount] would just go to a different entity other than Long Beach.”
Alvin Papa, a city engineer and acting manager of the city’s Transportation and Mobility Bureau, told the Signal Tribune this week that Measure A accounts for a large percentage of all roadway funding sources.
“If the extension of Measure A is not approved, we will not be able to adequately address the paving needs of our city, and our paving quality will degrade rapidly,” Papa said. “This will have a domino effect which can adversely impact a variety of things, such as property values, business, tourism, livability and emergency-response times.”
Although the fate of Measure A won’t be known for another seven months, those who will decide it certainly seem to care about the city’s infrastructure needs.
When the Signal Tribune conducted an informal poll on NextDoor.com on July 9 to solicit the input of residents regarding what issues they would like to see covered, one topic arose repeatedly: the conditions of Long Beach’s streets.
One respondent wrote that, four years ago, her mother, while using a walker, was crossing 37th Street near Atlantic Avenue to dine at a nearby restaurant, when loose material from the road caused her to fall.
“There are many elderly [residents] in the area who cross from the church parking lot to Bake-N-Broil,” the respondent wrote. “Once, my mom, with her walker, was crossing, and a section of pavement gave way, trapped the wheel of the walker several inches down and sent Mom to the ground. She landed inches from a car who, luckily, had stopped for her just moments before she fell. Four years later, it is still bad.”
One city official who has championed the cause of fixing bad roads is 5th District Councilmember Stacy Mungo, who earlier this year requested staff to generate a top-10 list of the city’s worst streets. However, emails and a phone call Monday and Tuesday to Mungo’s office for an interview or statement on the issue were still unanswered by press time Thursday afternoon.
Papa, however, explained that the city’s paving program is guided by its pavement-management plan (PMP) and its infrastructure-investment plan (IIP).
“The PMP considers surface distresses, structural integrity, functional class and other factors to recommend street rehabilitation according to various budget scenarios,” Papa said. “The program is developed to make best use of our limited funds. This means it is not a ‘worst first’ methodology– rather, it is a balance between maintaining our ‘good’ streets to keep them in the ‘good’ category, while also spending some funds to eliminate our backlog of streets in ‘poor’ condition. City council reviews and approves staff budget recommendations, which are based on projected revenues. The PMP does not break down a budget by district. It identifies the paving needs of each district. Our engineers use the PMP and IIP to develop a street-rehabilitation program according to the needs of each district and the approved budget.”
Elaborating on how the city’s pavement-condition index (PMI) works, Papa said a consultant inspects the roadways using vehicle-mounted lasers to measure the irregularities in the surface of the pavement.
“Key factors we check for are rutting, roughness, cracking, potholing, raveling, patching, utility cuts and distortions, to name a few,” he said. “In addition, we also use ground-penetrating radar to measure the structural integrity of the street. This data is used to generate a PCI number from zero to 100.”
Papa also explained how it is determined if a road should be merely slurry-sealed or undergo more extensive work.
“The PMP makes a recommendation, and our engineers modify the design as needed to match field conditions and the budget provided,” he said.
One resident and official who refrains from complaining about Long Beach’s road conditions is Blair Cohn, executive director of the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association and an 8th District resident.
“With some exceptions, I think we’re in pretty good shape here,” Cohn said. “Most roads we traverse, for work and for living here, I think we have it pretty good, to be honest.”
Cohn’s office is located on Atlantic Avenue, in the heart of the Bixby Knolls shopping district, and he said he has witnessed major improvements on the most frequently used streets.
“Atlantic [Avenue] got redone about 10 years ago,” Cohn said, adding that road work took place shortly after he assumed his current position. “Long Beach Boulevard is in good shape. You get wear and tear, and you get weather and what-not. There’s potholes in the residential [areas, but] I think the ‘arteries’ are in good shape.”
Orange Avenue, on the other hand, is a unique stretch of road.
“I know the issue with Orange Avenue is that it was concrete laid in the ’20s, and it’s been patched up,” Cohn said. “Now you’re talking about a hundred-year life, and the cost of tearing it all up and putting in new [material]? I understand all that.”
Cohn said, as someone who spends a lot of time in Los Angeles– in particular, riding bikes– he sees a distinct difference between that city and Long Beach in terms of roadway quality.
“I don’t know how long the cycle is between repairing [roads in Los Angeles], but I’ve done some cycling events in different neighborhoods, and it’s rough,” Cohn said. “You have to keep an eye out when you’re riding a bike, let alone driving and worrying about potholes and hurting your tires or axle. Whereas here, I think we’re far better.”
While others are seeing a degradation of street conditions, Cohn said he sees a city making a continuous effort to address the roads, and he relies on a particular city resource to take care of holes.
“I know that work has been done steadily in the 7th District in both our neighborhood and in the business district,” Cohn said. “I know that work has been done in the 8th District, both in the business area and community, as well, and all of the new sidewalks and ramps have been put in the last year or two. The city has been putting those in. But, when I see potholes– and I can tell you there’s a few spots right here on Cartagena [Street]– I’ll report it to the GoLongBeach app, and they’ll come and patch it.”
Cohn said city workers then respond and patch the holes within a week or two.
Another option for reporting potholes is available here.
An analysis of the pavement conditions of streets in Long Beach is available at here.
More information about Measure A is available here.
Yes, many streets in the 8th district were repaired between 2004-2012. Both major corridors, Atlantic and LB Blvd. from the 405 to South Street were rebuilt. The medians were added and in some areas streetscape was added to improve the visual of the business areas. Carson St. from Atlantic to Orange Avenue was a big one for us! I’m thinking that was around 2009. We tried to encourage the 7th district to join us so that the entire Carson St. within Long Beach would be consistent. In over ten years that still has not happened!
Also, 37th Street (next to Bake & Broil) to LB Blvd has been a mess and was on the 8th district list and then with redistricting
it went into the 7th and became their responsibility to champion. Councilmembers can help make street repairs happen! It is important for our residents to make their needs known over and over until they get “the plans”.
Actually. Budget for Long Beach Streets for FY 2020 is well short (35% less) of what is required to improve Long Beach streets.
Measure A capital funds have been shifted to police and fire services and restoration. Only 10% and 4% of the Street Budgets were allocated from Measure A’s total revenues in FY 2020 and FY 2019, respectively. In FY 2017 it was 46%.
While voters were promised additional police and fire (we were down approximately 200 police since 2008), only a handful were added. Street work was also a promise and yet our streets are still in ill repair. Last month, Council committed measure A funds to retrofit Community Hospital ($25M) so I wouldn’t count on getting streets fixed.