Concerns about the Shoreline Gateway Project are less about the building, more about the cars

THE SHORELINE GATEWAY

The shortest street in Long Beach is about to have an estimated 500 more cars driving on it.

A 35-story residential and retail tower, soon to be the tallest building in the city, is expected to break ground within the next two years, the first phase of a two-phase project. While the Shoreline Gateway project has been in the works since 2005 and has undergone numerous changes, including a downsized lot, there are still kinks to be worked out, the most prevalent being bare minimum parking accommodations and uncertain traffic impact at the busy intersection of Ocean Boulevard and Alamitos Avenue.

After receiving mixed reviews from residents on their original design concept, which featured a shorter tower, Gateway developers Anderson Pacific and designer Michael Bohn, a 43-year Long Beach resident, unveiled new plans at a July 30 community meeting. The plans called for a heightened tower—417 feet—with a sleek and slender appeal. Although many like the tower’s new appearance—featuring tinted glass to deflect light with a curvier, sexier body inspired by a sailboat’s shape—there are still concerns that the plan doesn’t entirely address the issue of increased vehicles and congestion at an already hectic intersection.

“I’m not going to lie to anybody and tell them that there isn’t going to be an impact on traffic,” says David White, a redevelopment project officer for Long Beach. “But I can assure you that everything is being done to limit that impact.”

One of those things is a building camera provided by the city that will monitor the tower’s sole entrance and determine traffic patterns during peak travel time. From these patterns, signals can be altered to accommodate traffic flow, White says. The Environmental Impact Report monitored 58 intersections in the surrounding areas, and no alterations are anticipated at the Ocean/Alamitos intersection. However, a new signal will be installed at the intersection of Lime Avenue and Seventh Street once the tower is erected.

The original design allowed for multiple entrances into the development, including one on Ocean and another off Alamitos; but, according to White, after a review by Long Beach traffic engineers, it was decided to create only one entrance accessible from Medio Street, which, at one block in length, is the shortest street in Long Beach. How is that going to work? Well . . .

“As you know, it’s conjecture; we don’t really know,” says Long Beach Councilmember Suja Lowenthal, whose Second District includes the Gateway Project. “We’re making presumptions. We’re just living through this as the project develops.”

The first tower is planned to house an estimated 495 underground parking stalls to accommodate residents in approximately 220 units, as well as retail-store employee, guests, and some public parking. Some community members believe the number of parking stalls is far too low. Bill Anderson, president and CEO of Anderson Pacific, said at the July 30 meeting that he didn’t want to get specific about certain strategies relating to traffic and parking due to the early stages of the project. Ryan Altoon, an Anderson vice-president, said that the allotted parking spaces are within the city’s requirements and that not all of the units are two bedrooms. (The city only requires 1.5 spaces for one bedroom units, and the 6,300 square feet of retail space requires nominal parking stalls.)

Still, with 167 two-bedroom units and 54 one-bedrooms, that means that 415 parking stalls will be given to residents, leaving just 80 spaces to accommodate guests, employees, and general public parking.

The project’s acquisition also includes a portion of Lime Avenue, which will no longer be used for vehicular access but will be replaced with an urban garden for public use. This street is used by some residents as an alternative way to turn west onto Ocean instead of waiting in mainstream traffic on Alamitos.

“Anytime you’re dealing with a project of this size, there are going to be issues of traffic, density, and congestion,” White says. “For people who are afraid of change, this can seem scary.”

The Shoreline Gateway Project is just one of several tower developments in the works for the downtown area. And with development comes more vehicles. Local resident and Anthem magazine publisher Andreas Herr doesn’t necessarily think this is a bad thing. Unlike most other residents, he says he hopes that the parking and traffic get worse in the downtown area, because then the city will be forced to seriously consider public transportation.

“It’s time for us to rethink our lives.” Herr says.

Perhaps. Or perhaps we can wait to do that until the project’s second phase begins.

Tags: downtown, Long Beach, medio street, shoreline gateway