To ease the parking pain that some residents have expressed as a result of the new configuration of the Broadway Corridor, Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce has requested a change to the way the section of road is cleaned that would keep street sweepers in the bike lanes.

The Broadway Corridor project, which began in 2017, has not come without its share of complaints of confusion and allegations that the changes are unsafe. Some residents and commuters alike have demanded changes to the reconfigured lanes—a so-called road diet that includes protected bike lanes and the removal of trees.

Multiple social media posts have highlighted the uncertainty of which lanes belong to bikes, cars or trash cans.

Pearce sent a letter to constituents this week outlining a number of changes she’d like to see instituted in the project that she referred to as “a true work in progress.”

Among those changes are reducing red curbs where possible, adding paint to designate loading and bus zones and other cosmetic fixes to limit the confusion that has led to residents putting trash cans in the newly added bike lanes, and some motorists double parking in them.

The councilwoman’s newest request could end street sweeping outside of the bike lanes on Broadway between Redondo and Alamitos avenues. She said the move, which she is hopeful will be approved, could help residents who already live in one of the most parking impacted areas.

“While the city has made great headway in moving back the times for street sweeping, it’s still difficult in the morning,” Pearce said. “So anything we can do to make peoples lives better in the district I think we need to explore it.”

The city announced in 2016 that it would begin overhauling its street sweeping times citywide in an attempt to unburden some residential neighborhoods, which had street sweeping times that started as early as 4 a.m.

Pearce said she expects an answer to come back from the city’s public works department in the next 10 days and she’s hopeful that the answer will be favorable. She pointed to positive conversations and the city already having smaller street sweepers that can fit into the bike lanes as signals that the request could be implemented.

A public works spokesperson said the department is in the preliminary stages of assessing the feasibility of the request and couldn’t comment on any potential financial impact of switching the way street sweeping on the Broadway Corridor is carried out.

About half of the corridor improvements run through Alamitos Beach, one of the city’s most parking impacted areas where parking is scarce, especially in the evening.

Earlier this month Pearce also requested city staff examine if there were any more opportunities to augment diagonal parking stalls to more 90-degree spaces like she did in April 2018, a move that resulted in over 120 new spaces being created in the area.

While the parking spaces were created on First Street and Second Street, Pearce said that the impact can be felt on Broadway as this is an area of town where residents are accustomed to not parking directly in front of where they live.

“I look at Alamitos Beach as a whole,” Pearce said. “While you might not live on First Street, but adding parking spots there certainly does ease things up.”