A planned renovation of three major Southern California freeways, starting in early 2010, is causing concern among some Long Beach residents.
The renovation, known as the West County Connectors project, is aimed at creating direct connections between carpool lanes on state Route 22 and Interstates 405 and 605.
The connector from northbound I-405 to westbound Route 22 will be closed for up to a year while new lanes are constructed.
At a March 12 community meeting at Kettering Elementary School, Niall Barrett, the project manager, outlined the purpose and the potential impacts of the project.
“Obviously [the project] has implications for everybody over here in Long Beach,” Barrett said.
Closure of the connector, also known as the Seventh Street Bridge, will primarily affect drivers coming to Long Beach from Orange County. Barrett said the current bridge must be demolished in order to make room for the new lanes.
About a third of the campus community commutes from Orange County, although not all use I-405, according to Rick Gloady, Cal State Long Beach Media Relations Director.
CSULB officials and representatives from the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), which is overseeing the project, met last week to discuss the impact it will have on the campus and methods to ease any frustrations. University officials said their primary goal is making drivers aware of the construction before it begins.
“While the beginning of construction is still about a year away, the campus is looking at ways to begin the notification process,” Gloady said.
Parking and Access Services Associate Director Mark Rudometkin said his office will pursue “an aggressive informational campaign to get the message out to the entire campus.” This includes flyers, advertisements on campus shuttles and notices with staff and faculty paystubs.
Other connectors will face limited closures, but travel from eastbound Route 22 to either side of I-405 will remain possible. For drivers headed to Long Beach on northbound I-405, detours have been designated for Westminster Avenue, Seal Beach Boulevard and Palo Verde Avenue.
Although the project is scheduled to begin early next year, some are already voicing concerns about problems the closure may cause.
Many residents who attended the March 12 meeting said they were worried about CSULB students causing more congestion on local streets as a result of the construction. Barrett admitted that because most of the university’s general parking is located on the north side of campus, many students will use Palo Verde Avenue to get to school.
“They’ll work around it as best they can,” Barrett said.
Patrick O’Donnell, a Long Beach City councilmember who represents the district immediately north of CSULB, warned that the increased student traffic could create a situation unfriendly to both students and local residents. O’Donnell said that during peak hours, Palo Verde Avenue is already a “parking lot.”
Rudometkin said the school and the OCTA will watch traffic flow along Palo Verde Avenue and evaluate possible improvements.
Gary Frahm, president of the Bixby Hills Homeowners Association, said he was concerned that more traffic would worsen parking and safety issues on local streets surrounding the school. Frahm referred to some students’ daily ritual of parking on and crossing the busy streets as “the gauntlet” because, he said, it is only a matter of time before someone is hit.
Construction on the West County Connectors was originally scheduled to begin later in 2010, before the Governor’s office requested acceleration of the project in order to help stimulate the economy, according to Barrett. The project is not expected to receive federal stimulus money.
Good to have this information, but please be aware that areas shaded and identified as road closures are actually the alternate routes per http://www.octa/westcounty.aspx.
Very well researched and reported, but where’s the student voice? They also are consumers.