Broadway Road Diet Controversy Escalates

A lot has happened in the two months since the Broadway “road diet” was unveiled.

Multiple citizens complained to the city about Broadway’s changes with at least a few threatening legal action.

Channel 4 News reporter Patrick Healy came to Long Beach and covered the topic.

The city’s traffic engineer, Eric Widstrand, has “resigned to pursue opportunities in the private sector,” according to the city.

The dormant Broadway Corridor Association (BCA) came back to life to tackle the safety and parking issues.

Multiple accidents have occurred.

Reduced parking from the street’s reconfiguration has left many businesses with a drop in revenues from 30 to 70 percent, according to the BCA.

A number of businesses closed shop while others are on the verge of closing.

Community members gathered at various meetings to discuss Broadway’s “crisis.”

A public protest is being planned.

And prominent community leader Robert Fox, fed up with the “overreach by City Hall which did not provide for citizen notice nor input for the present design of Broadway,” jumped into the 2nd District City Council race to unseat Jeannine Pearce, whose district includes the Broadway design in question.

Fox retained an attorney for a possible lawsuit against the city for Broadway’s reconfiguration, which “has stupid written all over it.”

More and more cities across the country are implementing road diets, where lanes are taken away and “friction” often added to calm traffic.

“In 2017, nine miles of road diets installed in Mar Vista and Playa del Rey sparked lawsuits, months of complaints and an unsuccessful attempt to recall (Los Angeles) Councilman Mike Bonin,” the Los Angeles Times reported. “Within months, many of the changes were reversed.”

Broadway’s diet removed a traffic lane from each direction and added curbside bike lanes to where cars used to park. Parked vehicles now must sit out in the street several feet from the curb.

Many say this is dangerous.

“How can anybody see now to make a right or left turn?” asked resident Heidi Glaser. “I’m concerned about safety for me and everyone.”

On June 7, the Beachcomber spotted an accident scene in the 3200 block of Broadway. A woman tried to enter Broadway from an Obispo Avenue side-street but a wall of parked cars blocked her vision. She pulled up further to try and see – and then a collision took place. She did not want to be quoted or her name published.

The Beachcomber came across another crash site in the 2200 block of Broadway on May 26. Cynthia Barreras, a Garden Grove resident who works in Long Beach, drove north on Kennebec Avenue. At a stop sign, she wanted to turn left onto Broadway but couldn’t see beyond the partition of parked cars.

“Even if you pull up, you can’t see,” Barreras said. “You can’t see past the parked cars. You have to pull up all the way to where the parked cars are, and then pull up a little more, and then you’re in oncoming traffic.”

She entered Broadway and a vehicle slammed into her. The male driver didn’t see her either, she said, adding she won’t drive on Broadway anymore.

“Somebody else is going to get very hurt,” Barreras said. “It’s a weird set up. It doesn’t make sense.”

On May 28, The Beachcomber requested records from the LBPD regarding all reported accidents on Broadway between Redondo and Alamitos from April 20 through May 28. The report arrived via email on June 10. It showed one non-injury accident for the April portion at Broadway/Hermosa and only four collisions for May.

One accident in the record reported injuries, where three were hurt May 12 at Broadway/Alamitos.

But none of the four May accidents occurred on May 26 – the date of Barreras’ Kennebec/Broadway accident. Police were present and date-stamped photos were taken.

The May crashes in the police record happened at Broadway/Bonito, Broadway/Alamitos, Broadway/Alamitos again and Broadway/Temple – not in the area of Kennebec/Broadway.

Barreras’ accident was not in the record given to the newspaper. Moreover, the record did not include unreported incidents and accidents involving scooters vs pedestrians, pedestrians vs bikes, etc.

“We have had according to our count from the Broadway Corridor, 57 accidents in 35 days,” said council candidate Fox.

Accidents range from minor incidents that do not require police to serious mishaps. He said a 55-year old woman was severely injured as her driver’s side car door was taken off by oncoming traffic at Hermosa and Broadway.

Fox, who lives on Broadway at Temple, receives phone calls from people when something happens. He documents the information for his attorney.

Fox was present at the two accidents the Beachcomber covered.

Fox said more accidents have happened in the past two months than in the past 30 years.

Ian Patton, executive director of the Long Beach Reform Coalition, parked on Broadway after a meeting. He opened his car door a few inches when a car hit his side mirror and the mirror popped out.

The drivers exchanged insurance information without the police.

“The level to which they have crammed in too much stuff on a century-old street is mind-blowing,” he said. “There’s not room for two bike lanes, two parking lanes and two lanes of traffic on a street that dates back to at least the 1920s.”

More than 600 petition signatures have been collected by volunteer Annie Parks and business owners.

“Still collecting,” she said from her wheelchair in front of Broadway by the Sea.

Meanwhile, asphalt-like bumpers have been bolted into the street to separate the bike lanes from the parked cars.

The black barriers with white markings measure just over 4-feet long and blend in with the street’s black color and white stripes.

After parking the car, a person can step over them before crossing the bike lane to get to the sidewalk.

The writer of this article took video of congested traffic on Broadway and Temple June 15 as a fire truck, ambulance and trash truck were present at the same time. The video is on YouTube under “Broadway Road Diet June 2019.”

After turning the camera off and crossing the street, he tripped on a barrier and fell hard into the bike lane.

He landed on his hands in front of Merry’s store owner Merry Colvin. The camera flew several feet onto the sidewalk. He got up and dusted himself off.

“That was a scary fall Kirt,” Colvin said. “How ironic.”

Though the tumble happened in broad daylight, Colvin said at night the barriers are even harder to see.

“You can’t see them,” she said. “There’s no contrast.”

Ciaran Gallagher, owner of Gallagher’s Pub and Grill, said he witnessed two people fall and heard stories.

“I did see a few trip on the barriers,” Gallagher said, adding the people were probably in their 50s.

Public Works Director Craig Beck said the separated bikeway installation, known as class IV, is safe.

“This is the safest option and has been installed along many different areas of the city,” he said through email. “Whenever a street is evaluated for reconstruction, the staff looks at different mobility options to determine what, if anything, should be included.

“Separated bikeways have been installed on other corridors in the city (e.g. Artesia, Bellflower, Orange) and will likely be used again where the activity warrants their use.”

Carl Hickman, assistant city traffic engineer, said through email, “City staff continues to collect input regarding the subject project. We have been out on the corridor looking for conditions where simple improvements can be made to the initial design.

“Minor adjustments are planned that will help to clarify where parking is allowed and where we may be able to add more space for parking.”

Asked if there are any plans to reverse the changes and return Broadway to the way it was, Hickman responded, “Not at this time.”

In an email to community leaders, Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce said, “I am a firm believer that we never get things right the first time, but it takes phases.”

At a Carroll Park neighborhood association meeting, she was quoted as saying the same thing. In response, Fox stated, “When sending a man to the moon or building the Empire State Building, you have to get it right the first time. When building infrastructure for this city, the same principle applies.”

kirt@beachcomber.news