Task Force Has Costly Traffic Solutions : Transit: The study suggests a number of construction projects and some far-reaching steps to yank commuters from behind the wheel.

LONG BEACH —  For years, the city has been predicting traffic increases and mulling ways of coping with the stream of cars that would invade its streets if the dream of a thriving downtown ever becomes a reality.

A city task force report, the latest in a series of local traffic studies, was released earlier this month amid an undercurrent of concern that a number of massive developments planned for the downtown area will make its thoroughfares about as inviting as the San Diego Freeway on a Friday afternoon. Consultants have previously predicted that downtown traffic will jump a whopping 170% over the next 20 years, from about 102,000 cars a day to 276,000.

Written by a committee appointed by the mayor, the Transportation Task Force report cautiously concludes that Long Beach can handle it all--if the city embarks on a number of expensive construction projects and takes far-reaching steps to yank commuters from behind the wheel.

“I’ve seen the future, and it works--maybe,” said attorney Doug Otto, chairman of the task force, which was composed of a cross-section of business people, developers and community activists. “I think the money is there. The solution will land squarely in the lap of the politicians. That’s the remaining piece to the puzzle.”

It will be up to city leaders, Otto explained, to forge ahead with some of the more controversial recommendations of the transportation plan and to adopt commuter programs to wean workers from their lone drives to the office. “We recognized perhaps for the first time the need to get people out of their cars if transportation is to work in Long Beach,” he said.

Otto’s committee suggests a broad range of proposals, including major road improvements, parking restrictions, extra car pool lanes, staggered work hours and higher downtown parking fees.

The $232-million worth of road improvements suggested by the task force are for the most part not new. Many were mentioned in the city’s 1986 strategic plan and again in a transportation study prepared by Barton-Aschman Associates last year, but the expense and scope of the projects has kept them in the discussion stages. That may slowly change, now that the city is poised to impose transportation fees on major developments and adopt a new transportation policy as part of a revision of the General Plan, the city’s master planning document.

The suggested road improvements include the construction of overpasses at some of the city’s busiest intersections, such as Alamitos Avenue and Ocean Boulevard and the traffic circle on Pacific Coast Highway, the widening of portions of Alamitos and Magnolia avenues, the installation of turn lanes and recessed bus bays, and improvements at numerous intersections.

The task force also recommended eliminating parking on a number of thoroughfares during evening rush hour, thus freeing up extra lanes. A proposal to ban parking along both sides of Atherton Street and connect the road to the San Diego Freeway has already prompted a roar of disapproval from residents concerned about the peace and safety of that neighborhood.

Other suggested parking bans in commercial areas, such as along Pacific Coast Highway and Anaheim Street, are also bound to stir opposition from store owners who would be forced to find alternate parking for their customers during evening rush hour. Responding to business concerns, the task force rejected proposals to prohibit parking along Broadway and 4th streets east of Alamitos.

So far, Otto said, city officials are assuming a “we-want-to-study-this” response to the task force recommendations, which will be discussed at a number of public hearings during the coming months. The recommendations also will be incorporated into proposed revisions to the transportation element of the General Plan, and ultimately go before the City Council.

Bud Huber, president of the Belmont Shore Improvement Assn., generally lauded the report, but said the city’s neighborhood groups have two major concerns. One is the Atherton proposal, and the other is the handling of east-west traffic in the Belmont Shore coastal area.

Huber complained that while the task force calls the coastal streets scenic routes, it in various ways funnels more traffic onto Belmont Shore’s major thoroughfares. Huber said the neighborhood groups are also concerned that the task force proposals are already being written into the city’s transportation policies without public comment. “Once the city makes up its mind, it’s very hard to change,” he said.

As for attempts to reduce substantially the number of commuters who drive to work alone, Huber remarked, “They’re interesting. They need to be looked at. But in my opinion . . . those kinds of issues must be dealt with on a regional basis.” Indeed, regional air pollution regulations are likely “to make those kinds of things happen whether we want them or not,” Huber noted.

Among the report’s proposals are requirements that employers establish staggered work hours to reduce the rush-hour commuter crunch, suggestions that Long Beach Harbor encourage around-the-clock shifts to spread out freeway truck traffic, and a program under which downtown businesses would give their customers vouchers that could be used for either parking, bus or taxi service.

Marc Coleman, who as a member of Long Beach Area Citizens Involved has questioned downtown growth policies, expressed doubts that many of the recommendations will become reality, either for lack of funding or political will. “We love to study these things,” Coleman said. He also complained that the task force operated on the assumption that all the planned downtown growth should and would occur.

“The question in our mind is not, how do we accommodate the massive growth, but whether there should be the massive growth in the first place. That’s something they don’t address.”

The possibility that the Walt Disney Co. may build a huge oceanfront theme park in Long Beach was not even considered in the task force report. Nonetheless, Otto and city Planning Director Robert Paternoster maintained that that possibility did not undermine the committee’s work. For all the people such a theme park would draw to Long Beach, Paternoster said, the park’s traffic would be more manageable than typical commuter trips since it would not come at rush hour nor would visitors tend to arrive in cars with just one occupant.

Paternoster has consistently dismissed criticisms that the city is blindly developing downtown without paying heed to the traffic snarls that are likely to follow.

“The city of Long Beach does not have a severe transportation problem today and Long Beach does not have to have a severe traffic problem in the future, either,” Paternoster said. “There’s a lot to be done, but it’s all doable.”

NEXT STEP The Transportation Task Force report will be discussed in a series of public meetings over the next few months. At the same time, city planners will incorporate its recommendations into proposed revisions of the transportation element of the city’s General Plan, which must ultimately be approved by the Planning Commission and the City Council.

No-Parking Recommendations The Long Beach Transportation Task Force is recommending the elimination of parking during evening rush hours along the following streets:

Ocean Boulevard, west of Alamitos Avenue

Broadway, west of Alamitos Avenue

3rd Street, west of Alamitos Avenue

6th Street, west of Alamitos Avenue

7th Street, entire street

Anaheim Street, entire street

Pacific Coast Highway, entire street

Atherton Street, entire street

Willow Street, west of Magnolia Avenue

Atlantic Avenue, Ocean Boulevard to 10th Street

Alamitos Avenue, south of Pacific Coast Highway

Cherry Avenue, Spring Street to Carson Street

Clark Avenue, Willow Street to Harvey Way

Los Coyotes Diagonal, entire street