Long Beach has long sought to make its roadways safer for cyclists and pedestrians — and the Broadway corridor has been a key focus of that plan.

Community meetings began in 2013 to revise the roadway. Long Beach completed a study in 2016 to guide the work ahead. Then later that year, voters approved a 10-year sales tax hike with Measure A, which provided the necessary funding. Work finally began on the project early last year.

All of that planning has led to a slimmed-down Broadway, down from four to two lanes, with a new protected bike lane.

But despite the work that went into bringing the community on-board with the plan — which many locals still say has a laudable goal — residents and people who own businesses along the boulevard say the city didn’t think through the slew of consequences the corridor is currently experiencing because of the changes. Now, they’re pushing for folks in City Hall to reverse course.

Public safety

The most egregious concerns, according to local residents, are about public safety. Robert Fox — who announced at a Thursday, June 13, meeting about the improvements that he would run for the City Council because, he said, officials have not properly handled the project — said there has been a sharp increase in crashes on Broadway because of the changes.

Fox provided specific numbers to back up his argument about an increase in collisions. But city officials, on Friday, said they were unsure where those numbers came from — and they have yet to be confirmed.

The redesign, besides reducing the number of lanes, also got rid of some loading zones and left trash trucks without many out-of-the-way spots to make their frequent stops.

Kirk Jordan, an Alamitos Beach resident, has documented multiple instances of trash and loading trucks blocking traffic, which has led to trailing cars — or cyclists — using the oncoming traffic lane to navigate around them.

“There have already been accidents,” Jordan said in a Wednesday, June 12, interview. “One of these days, somebody’s going to get killed.”

Long Beach, for its part, said city officials are continuously observing the roadway for the types of hazards Jordan mentioned.

“Public Works continues to monitor the Broadway Corridor Safety improvements,” the department’s director, Craig Beck, said in an email, “and will continue to make modifications when appropriate.”

Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce, who represents the 2nd District — where many of the issues have unfolded — did not provide a comment or statement before deadline.

But in an email newsletter late last month, she acknowledged “some of the results” of the project “aren’t perfect.”

Pearce wrote: “I am a firm believer that we never get things right the first time, that we must work incrementally to get it right. This corridor and project is a true work in progress, but one that will ultimately create safer streets for cars, pedestrians and cyclists.”

Pearce said that she had formally requested certain changes along the thoroughfare to address worries such as Jordan’s, including that Long Beach reduce no-parking zones, and add more loading islands and designated trash bin zones “where possible.”

Fire Department concerns

But the public safety concerns don’t just come down to backed-up traffic and a few wayward drivers. Emails obtained by the Press-Telegram show that fire officials also had concerns about how the changes would impact paramedic response times.

In a Feb. 9, 2018, email — sent a week after Long Beach issued a press release announcing the project’s launch — Richard Brandt, then a deputy chief with the Fire Department, told city engineer Sean Crumby that certain changes, which fire officials were alerted to by “a concerned resident,” would “cause great concern with the Fire Department.

“If you reduce the Broadway Corridor and increase the diagonal parking on 1st and 2nd,” Brandt wrote, “we now have great impacts on paramedic response times and engine maneuverability throughout the whole area, not just Broadway.”

A request for comment from Brandt, who has since retired, was directed to Deputy Chief Matthew Gruneisen. Gruneisen was not available for comment before deadline.

Beck, for his part, said his department and Fire Department officials had “several meetings” to address concerns like the one Brandt raised.

“Through those discussions it was agreed that new street projects would provide a minimum of 18 (feet) of clearance,” Beck wrote. “While that doesn’t always exist within some of our more congested neighborhoods (e.g. Belmont Shore), that is the new standard.”

Businesses lose customers

Along with the potential impacts on public safety, people who own businesses along Broadway say they may be forced to shutter because of how much traffic has been diverted from their corridor.

Merry Colvin, who owns the Merry’s clothing store at Broadway and Colorado Place, said during the Thursday neighborhood meeting that foot traffic to her business has plummeted since the work began.

She first sounded the alarm about the plan’s impacts in the fall, when she worried that she wouldn’t be able to make it through the holiday shopping season.

Now, Colvin said, she’s glad to have made it out the other side of that crucial time. But the problem has only gotten worse since construction wrapped up, she said. Colvin estimated her sales are down 60-to-70% from before the project’s work started.

Colvin added that one longtime customer called her to tell her that she wouldn’t be able to pick up an order because of a Broadway backup; the customer said she would come back at a later date — but that never came to pass.

“This is constant now,” Colvin said. “I don’t know how much longer I’m going to make it.”

A city study, obtained by the Press-Telegram, showed that Long Beach projected traffic along Broadway would drop by up to 33% in some areas, with that traffic largely diverted to Third Street.

Beck, from Public Works, said the plan overall was intended to slow traffic throughout the mostly residential area.

“The Broadway corridor is a residential corridor with some neighborhood-serving businesses,” Beck wrote. “If you look at the type of uses, over 90% of the properties are residential.

Before the improvements, he said, vehicles routinely traveled 10-to-20 miles per hour over the 30 miles an hour speed limit.

“This,” he wrote, “is not a safe speed within a residential community.”

What happens next

Fox dropped another big announcement, besides his impending council bid, on Thursday: He said he would sue Long Beach because, he argued, the project violated certain laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act.

But Fox also said he planned to rally the community for even more disruptive forms of protest.

“If they want to slow traffic on Broadway,” he said, “what would it look like if we really slowed traffic on Broadway? What if we drive down that corridor at 1 mile per hour and we just have car after car after car?”

After all, Fox said, it’s the city’s job to keep residents safe — and, he added, residents should keep officials accountable in doing so.

“Everything is political,” Fox said, “and we can change anything we want to change if we rise up and say, ‘No.’ So I beg you, people, to speak your truth when you can.”