Long Beach residents can expect to see some construction with the new Shoreline Drive Gateway project. Congressman Robert Garcia announced on Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded $30 million in funds from the Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) grant program.
“This is an enormous opportunity to reconnect and create new green space while building a new gateway into Downtown and West Long Beach. As Mayor of Long Beach, we advocated to our federal partners for this funding, so it’s great to be able to deliver for the city now as a Congressman,” said Congressman Garcia.
“The new funding is the first step to rebuilding primary entry points to our Downtown for the benefit of residents and visitors,” said Mayor Rex Richardson. “This transformative project will help us make our local streets safer, effectively double the size of Cesar Chavez Park with new usable park space for children and families and create hundreds of new construction-related jobs.”
The project's goal will reconfigure West Shoreline Drive, removing a roadway barrier, improving access and connectivity between Downtown Long Beach and public open space, creating a new bicycle path and pedestrian amenities, and diverting highway traffic from residential streets to major arterials.
The $30 million grant will fund the first of two parts on this development. The funding will go to:
- Demolition of the existing northbound lane of Shoreline Drive.
- Relocation of major utilities.
- Required temporary traffic control and rerouting.
- Major civil engineering and required regrading.
- Removal of old fences, hardscaping, and landscaping.
- Installation of new fiber, irrigation and power conduits.
- Relocation of street lighting to accommodate new street and park alignment.
- Partial funding for the realigned roadway and new medians at Shoreline Drive.
The second part will complete the project with additional roadway work. The additional roadway work will include new traffic signals, landscaping, and medians. This is expected to cost another $30 million.
Realigning Shoreline Drive is the first step in rebuilding the Shoemaker Bridge.
The project will create approximately 6-acres of new accessible park space that has been divided by freeway lanes and inaccessible to residents for decades, while also rerouting heavy traffic patterns from residential streets to major roads.
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Source: RobertGarcia.House.Gov
