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See page 10 for information about this work and its photographer, Matt SImmerman.
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S erving B ixBy K nollS , C alifornia H eigHtS , l oS C erritoS , W rigley VoL. 33 No. 23
Athena Mekis Staff Writer
see DOG PaRK page 9
Staff Writer
Over the past six months, the Linden Avenue residents in Bixby Knolls have been dealing with the implementation of a pilot program intended to
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S ignal H ill November 11, 2011
Construction projects in SH moving forward
Courtesy City of SH
Oct. 28, 2011 photo of Signal Hill’s new police station building.
Courtesy City of LB
The proposed El Dorado Dog Park that staff at the Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine recommended to the Parks and Recreation Commission Nov. 10.
Linden Avenue residents voice concerns about traffic-control pilot program Stephanie Raygoza
C ity
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine partner with private company to develop new El Dorado Dog Park In a continuous and difficult effort to find the ideal location for an off-leash dog park in the El Dorado East Regional Park, 4th District Councilmember Patrick O’ Donnell hosted a “Let’s Meet for the Mutts” community meeting in the proposed parking lot of the new El Dorado Dog Park (EDDP) Nov. 6. “Our objective is to get educated on the proposals,” O’Donnell said at the meeting. Opposing comments made at the meeting by residents and members of the El Dorado Nature Center (EDNC), the El Dorado Audubon Society, the Long Beach Community Gardens (Gardens) and Friends of El Dorado Dog Park (Friends) (the nonprofit organization that will fund the dog park) demonstrated the difficult process of designing the new EDDP.
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reduce the amount of cut-through traffic in their neighborhood. The affected residents gathered on Nov. 3 at the Expo Arts Center to hear an update given by City Traffic Engineer David Roseman where many expressed strong disapproval of the program and the negative
Stephanie Raygoza/Signal Tribune
The part-time “no left turn” restriction that is located on Linden Avenue and Roosevelt Road was installed in April as part of a pilot program.
impact it’s left on the neighborhood. Over 75 people attended the community meeting that included representation from not only Linden Avenue residents, but also those on affected streets, such as Elm Avenue and Long Beach Boulevard. Roseman distributed booklets at the start of the meeting that contained data collected and charts from the pilot program. On several occasions the traffic engineer was interrupted by a number of residents who were quick to point out discrepancies in his presentation and how they were ill informed of the program’s implementation. “We’re just trying to balance the traffic flow on Linden,” Roseman said. “We’re not trying to take Linden down to 500 cars a day– we’re just trying to balance it with the streets that are south of it and the streets that are north of it. So the decision now is to decide whether that solution is one that we
Courtesy FTR International
Artist rendering of the new Signal Hill Police Station, which is expected to be operational at the end of May 2012. CJ Dablo Hill law-enforcement department Staff Writer will enjoy once the new police station on Walnut Avenue opens next Several new construction proj- year by late May. ects underway in the city of Signal “We will no longer be Hill are transforming key areas in cramped,” Police Chief Michael the city’s 2.2 square miles. The Langston said, as he detailed in an city will soon see a middle school, interview last Monday how there facilities for a new waste-manage- will be additional space for an ment company, and a modern employee locker room, a larger police station. meeting room, additional employee parking spaces, and Signal Hill Police Station especially a bigger area dedicated Space will be one of the biggest advantages that the Signal see CONSTRUCTION page 15
keep or should we go back to letting people go whichever way they want.” According to the timeline found in the booklet, the first community meeting was conducted in January after Roseman’s team collected traffic counts and conducted a speed study on Linden Avenue. Letters were sent out in March to inform residents of the pilot program, however several attendees voiced their concerns with never having received the letter or never being notified of the meeting.
Based on Roseman’s findings, his team discovered that Linden Avenue carried a large amount of traffic that was detouring through the neighborhood. Three detour routes were initially identified as those that were most traveled on by commuters and other non-residents: Carson Street and Linden Avenue, Roosevelt Road and Linden Avenue, and Bixby Road and Linden Avenue. One resident recommended see LINDEN avENUE page 14