Getting Ready for Increased Traffic & Safety Concerns

Serious concerns that are being expressed over traffic congestion and safety was enough to take up nearly an hour of the Long Beach City Council meeting on March 3. Council members talked about input received from residents in their districts over the need to see more stop signs, speed bumps, and crosswalks.

The city’s Public Works Department needs to be doing more about it. Public Works should be better at communicating with residents and council members about requests that have been made but haven’t yet been fulfilled, they said.

Another major concern has been the number of fatal traffic collisions, which reached a high of 53 last year compared to 40 in 2024, according to police data reviewed by Long Beach Post. Pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable with available data showing them involved with only 14% of collisions but representing 65% of all deaths and serious injuries in Long Beach, according to the city’s Safe Streets Long Beach program.

For a city with much of its streets and housing built at the turn of the 20^th century and up the 1920s, things should be getting worse before they get better. Long Beach is going through what cities around the U.S. and the world are facing – growing residential populations and their cars, a lot of narrow streets and limited parking, and only being in the early stages of alternative transportation modes like robotaxis, shared rides, bicycling, and walking.

What Are Some of the Upcoming Challenges?

Traffic is expected to increase in Long Beach with the number of apartment rental units being built – and with major events coming up soon.

Three projects underway near the shopping center on 2^nd Street and Pacific Coast Highway will be adding about 1,300 rental units to that area. One of these projects, the Congressional Place commercial building at 6700 E. PCH that was demolished, is being replaced with 281-unit housing multi-units and 507 vehicle parking spaces.

Downtown will see several of these projects soon reach completion. The Onni East Village on the 200 block of Long Beach Blvd. will have 432 units. The West Gateway project at 600 W. Broadway, north of the World Trade Center is expected to bring 756 rental units to the downtown. The 3^rd & Pacific project will offer a 271-unit housing complex.

Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are going into suburban neighborhoods across Long Beach, which will be increasing the population and cars on the streets. ADUs can be attached or detached from the main house, and are a separate living unit complete with their own entrance, living, kitchen, and sleeping areas. 

The city has been seeing a rapid increase, permitting 671 ADUs in 2023 compared to just 59 in 2018. More recently, 747 ADU building permits were issued in 2024.

For those who live in, or near, neighborhoods with more ADU renters and their cars moving in, availability of curbside parking is harder to find; and there will be time periods where traffic is clogged up, making it tough to get in and out of the neighborhood.

The Long Beach Amphitheater, located near the Queen Mary, will be opening for events this summer. It will feature seating for up to 11,000 attendees, with heavy traffic being inevitable.

For the long-anticipated Los Angeles Olympics and Paralympics coming up in July and August 2028, Long Beach will be hosting 11 Olympic events and at least four Paralympic sports in its downtown shoreline area, Belmont Shore, and Marine Stadium. Overall, the 2028 LA Olympics and Paralympics is expected to draw more than five million visitors and sell up to 15 million tickets.

Responding to Public Concern Over Congestion and Safety

Local residents are concerned about some of the busy intersections in the city becoming more clogged up. That can include several points along 7^th Street, which serves as a core traffic artery in Long Beach; and with the Bellflower Blvd. and 7^th St. intersection being a commonly mentioned example of how it can build up.

Resident Merry Colvin has contacted her councilmember, Kristina Duggan of the third district, about traffic problems getting worse ever since one lane of traffic has been removed on Ximeno Ave. at Pacific Coast Highway and other nearby intersections. That was carried out by the city last year to add a bicycle lane and other changes to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Colvin and some of her neighbors in that area have been concerned that turning from PCH onto Ximeno has been getting worse, as traffic is often backed up into the PCH intersection with no way to get onto Ximeno. Some vehicles can get stuck at this major intersection waiting to make that left turn, while others try to drive around them in the bike lane to get out of the stuck traffic, Colvin said.

Nick Kaspar, chief of staff for Duggan, said that they’ve been in contact with the Public Works Department about finding a solution. It may need to come through evaluating the timing of the traffic signal system and making changes to improve that congestion, he said.

Kaspar says that California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) would be involved in making that change as the agency is authorized to manage the traffic signals, as PCH is a state highway.

Safe Streets Long Beach Vision Zero Action Plan

In 2016, the City Council set the goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2026. It was their version of a Vision Zero plan that many municipalities have adopted; but as previously mentioned, last year saw a surge in traffic deaths, its largest increase in more than 10 years.

The Safe Streets Long Beach Vision Zero Action Plan (SSLB) was adopted by the City Council in July 2020. The plan included actions to dedicate resources, lower speeds, implement best practices, educate, collect data, make investments through an equity lens, and to collaborate on safety.

On December 30, City Manager Tom Modica released the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program Update. NTMP utilizes a range of tools and strategies to reduce vehicle speeds and improve neighborhood safety. “Traffic calming evaluations” are included in the NTMP program to determine the need for new traffic controls such as crosswalks, stop signs, traffic signals, replacing bulb that have burned out, and pedestrian refuges that provide safe spaces for pedestrians to safely pause or wait while crossing a street.

One challenge has been that the Traffic Engineering Division has recently experienced an unprecedented level of turnover, Modica wrote. That group of employees plays an important role in traffic safety. When NTMP receives and responds to numerous service requests for new or modified traffic controls and devices it requires engineering assessment; and other duties to bring safety improvements to neighborhood streets.

At one point all four senior traffic engineers were vacant. Three of the four positions have now been filled, along with additional project management, engineering, and administrative support, according to Modica.

Transportation Solutions for the Olympics

Getting through very heavy traffic congestion and finding available parking will be a serious concern for those attending Olympic events in 2028 – and for those living and working near those locations.

Long Beach Transit (LBT) is considered to be a highly-rated and well-regarded transit agency with several convenient routes that you can take; but local residents and visitors are wondering about whether other, additional transportation solutions will be coming to the city as traffic gets increasingly worse.

In December, the L.A. Metro Board moved forward on a plan for a water taxi service between Long Beach and San Pedro during the 2028 Olympic Games. Introduced by L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, the motion asked the Metro CEO to start identifying private and public operators that could deliver the water taxi program.

Archer Aviation, an electric vehicle startup based in San Jose, Calif., announced last year its plan to roll out an air taxi service for the 2028 Olympics. The company said it will allocate 50 of its premier aircraft, Midnight – a four-passenger electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft – to ferry people at speeds up to 150 mph around nine “vertiport” hubs between Los Angeles and Orange counties.

The company was officially selected as the exclusive air taxi provider for the Olympics, aiming to transport athletes, fans, and staff via its eVTOL. The partnership includes transporting people between venues like SoFi Stadium and LAX, with plans to launch services by 2026. Hubs will be at airports and helipads located in Long Beach, Woodland Hills, Van Nuys, Hollywood-Burbank, Santa Monica, Pasadena, Inglewood, and Orange County, the company said.

Regarding the Long Beach Amphitheater, Mayor Rex Richardson has said that the city is working on offering concert attendees options beyond having to drive their own cars and pay for parking. Options outside of driving may include a water taxi, shuttle, rideshares, and maybe even a helicopter.

The city officially launched its E-Scooter Beach Bike Path Pilot in May of last year. It allows for electric scooters on the Shoreline Pedestrian Bikepath (also known as the Beach Bike Path). The 12-month pilot aims to evaluate the potential for permanently integrating e-scooters into the scenic waterfront route.

The city also increased service and additional clean-air, accessible vehicles for LB Circuit, a complimentary micro-transit service facilitated by Public Works. The service is now operating with a larger, more Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-accessible fleet, longer hours and a significantly expanded coverage area between Downtown and Alamitos Bay. The expanded coverage is now being supported by six new electric vehicles (EVs), including four newly added SUVs with extended driving ranges and two new ADA-accessible vans. 

Google’s Waymo self-driving car transport service, typically referred to as robotaxis, could be another alternative transportation mode ideal for crowded events. Waymo operates in Santa Monica, Culver City, and downtown Los Angeles, but has not officially expanded yet into Long Beach.

Jon LeSage is a resident of Long Beach and a veteran business media reporter and editor. You can reach him at jtlesage1@yahoo.com.