Residents Ask for Studebaker to Wrap Around Marketplace

A few Long Beach residents would like to see Studebaker Road extend around the Marketplace Long Beach shopping center and go through to where that street currently meets Pacific Coast Highway. It’s right where the pumpkin patch festivals are held each year.

Studebaker ends at 2nd Street, where you’ll see a traffic light, palm trees and shrubs and other plants common to the Los Cerritos wetlands. The Marketplace Long Beach shopping center houses a Trader Joe’s and California Pizza Kitchen and the Regal UA Long Beach theater that closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

These area residents contacted Beachcomber about the possibility of seeing the City of Long Beach allowing Studebaker to be extended around the Marketplace to provide another route to help reduce some of the traffic congestion. They’re concerned that with the three new housing development projects going in near that intersection at PCH and Studebaker, that they’ll need to have this new route in place to make sure it doesn’t get completely clogged, such as when driving on PCH to Seal Beach.

They understand the concerns of the city and the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust about protecting the wildlife and restoring the wetlands, but they think it could work with a modified roadway being added.

About seven years ago, one of these Long Beach residents made comments at a City Council meeting suggesting that an elevated roadway extension of Studebaker to PCH could be constructed that would be supported on driven pilings. By doing so, waterway restrictive impacts would be minimal, and flora and fauna would be allowed to flourish in the existing wetlands area. Objections were made by Los Cerritos wetlands supporters, and it didn’t gain traction with the city, the resident said.

Expanding Studebaker Road

The connection of Studebaker to PCH around Marketplace Long Beach likely won’t be happening for a couple of reasons, says Nick Kaspar, chief of staff, for the Office of Councilmember Kristina Duggan in District 3, which covers this part of Long Beach. One reason is that the Southeast Area Specific Plan (SEASP) identifies this area as wetlands, and that an amendment to SEASP that allows a road through the wetlands area would not be supported.

SEASP was adopted by the City Council in 2017. The California Coast Commission (CCC) held a hearing on it, and recommended modifications. These were presented and adopted by the City Council, of which the CCC certified in 2021.

Kasper said that, in addition, the city does not own all the property where the road was previously proposed, and one owner is a state agency that makes it more complicated.

“As part of the Southeast Area Specific Plan (SEASP), Long Beach designated the area previously proposed for the Studebaker extension as wetlands in 2017, and the state approved that designation in 2022,” says Councilmember Duggan. “Since it’s highly unlikely anyone will reverse these designations, I’m focusing on ways to reduce the impacts of upcoming developments, fully aware that traffic at the 2nd and PCH intersection will worsen no matter what.”

Traffic will be increasing after three housing projects go through development in the near future. One is at the former Congressional Place building on the corner of PCH and Studebaker Road, and which is called the 6700 Pacific Coast Highway project in city records. The other two nearby properties are Omni Marina Shores, which is at 6500 E. PCH, where you can still see a Petco retail store. The third location is 6615 E. PCH, located across the street where you’ll see a Cardinal Escrow office and a two-story office building.

Together, the three projects could add nearly 1,300 housing units near the intersection of PCH and Studebaker Road. That will bring in a lot more residents, cars and traffic. Local residents are concerned they’ll have to take a long route and extra time, such as driving down 7th Street to the I-405 freeway, to travel over to Seal Beach and other parts of Orange County.

Wetlands’ Concerns

Elizabeth Lambe, executive director of Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust, says that if Studebaker Road were approved to be extended around the Marketplace Long Beach to PCH, it would be very devastating to the open space and wildlife that the organization is trying to preserve if a road were to cross through the wetlands.

Lambe says, “no evidence suggests that adding roads addresses traffic concerns; the opposite is true: building and expanding roads increase traffic and exacerbate traffic problems.”

The improved road access encourages more people to drive, either by taking more or longer trips, or switching from public transportation. One research study indicates that roadway expansions can lead to a 3-8% increase in vehicle miles traveled in the short term, and 8-10% in the long run.

Lambe does agree that the new nearby housing developments are concerning, not only to residents but also to local wildlife and the open space they depend on.

For anyone wondering if the city’s Studebaker Corridor Complete Street Project could affect this area of the wetlands, it looks like that won’t be the case. It begins at 2nd Street and extends north for several miles through Long Beach.

The city’s Department of Public Works and E28 Infrastructure Investment Plan are involved in the project. Its mission is to create multi-modal improvements including class IV separated bikeways, ADA compliant paths of travel, upgraded traffic signals, protected intersection treatments, fiber-optic communication, street beautification and landscaping, and pavement repair and resurfacing.

Construction is expected to begin in Fall 2025, with completion in Fall 2027.

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