As I have reported on several occasions, the 5th Council District has the most sidewalks in the City and the most in need of repair. Historically, Long Beach required residents to fix the sidewalks (and many cities continue to do so because the sidewalks were installed by the developers) and then in the later 1970s began assuming the costs. Unfortunately, because city trees began maturing and raising more and more sidewalks, the costs to the City to repair the sidewalks increased dramatically.
Prior to my taking office, the City Council divided up sidewalk repair money evenly -- so the 5th received proportionately less than the other districts even though more was needed. Consequently, repairs in the 5th District lagged.
Last year, I worked with my colleagues and convinced them that the money needed to be divided based upon need. So for the first time, the 5th District received the most funds for sidewalk repair -- $600,000 and we were able to start putting a dent into the repair list.
I also added two programs that have helped with the repair of sidewalks not only in the 5th District but citywide: sawcutting -- which allows raised sidewalks to be fixed at a fraction of the cost of removal -- @ $25 per panel vs. $800 or so. The second program is a sidewalk cost share program that allows residents who cannot wait their turn on the long list -- to share in the cost of getting their sidewalk repaired as soon as possible. The resident contacts my office and then contacts a licensed contractor. The city waives the permit costs and will share the cost of replacement up to $500.
So here is the list of sidewalks fixed this past year (I have several lists since I took office in 2006 that I share at the State of the 5th in January). As soon as I have the list finalized for the coming year I will post it.
- 3400 block- Shipway
- Los Altos Methodist Church --- Willow Street
- Conant (north). Palo Verde (east), Wardlow (south) and Woodruff ( west)
- East side of Studebaker Rd ( from Spring Street to Mezzanine Way)
- North side of Spring St ( from Lees Ave to Stevely Way)
- Lees Ave ( from Spring St to Mezzanine Way)
- Kallin Ave ( from Spring St to Mezzanine Way)
- Karen Ave. ( from Spring St to Mezzanine Way)
- Volk Ave ( from Spring St to Rosebay St)
- Shipway Ave ( from Spring St to Pattiz Ave.)
- Pattiz Ave ( from Spring St to Shipway Ave)
- Stevely Ave ( from Spring St to Mezzanine Way)
- Rosebay St( from Karen Ave to Stevely Ave)
- Mezzanine St ( from Studebaker Rd to Stevely Ave)
- East side of Studebaker Rd ( from Mezzanine Way to Wardlow Rd)
- Kallin Ave ( from Mezzanine Way to Wardlow Rd)
- Stevely ave ( from Mezzanine Way to Wardlow Rd)
- Metz St ( from Karen Ave to Stevely Ave)
- Lanai St ( from Karen Ave to Stevely Ave)
- Killdee St ( from Karen Ave to Stevely Ave)
- Premium St( from Karen Ave to Stevely Ave)
- Coralite St ( from Karen Ave to Stevely Ave)
- South side of Wardlow Rd ( from Studebaker Rd to Stevely Ave)
- Chatwin Ave ( from Spring St to Pageantry St)
- Peabody St ( from Bellflower Blvd to san Anseline ave)
- Marwick Ave( from Spring St to Pageantry St)
- Pageantry St * from Bellflower Blvd to San Anseline Ave)
- N/side Spring St ( Alley W of Chatwin Ave to San Anseline Ave)
- E/side Bellflower Blvd ( South of Pageantry St)
- Keynote St ( from Rutgers Ave to Bellflower Blvd)
- Peabody St ( from Rutgers Ave to Bellflower Blvd)
- Carita St ( from Rutgers Ave to Bellflower Blvd)
- Conant St ( from Rutgers Ave to Bellflower Blvd)
- Stearnlee Ave ( from Conant St to Peabody St)
- Harco Street ( from Greenbrier Rd to W Charlemagne Ave)
- Charlemagne ( from S Harco St to Brockwood St)
- S/side Conant St ( Gondar Ave to Carfax Ave)
- S/ side Conant St ( Carfax Ave to Palo Verde Ave)
- Keynote Street ( from Rutgers Ave to Bellflower Blvd)
- Peabody ( from Rutgers Ave to Stearnlee Ave)
- Peabody (from Stearnlee Ave to Bellflower Blvd)
- Carita Street ( Rutgers Ave to Stearnlee Ave)
- Carita Street ( Stearnlee Ave to Bellflower Blvd)
- S/side Conant St ( from Rutgers Ave t Stearnlee Ave)
In order to get the most sidewalks fixed at the same time, we review our files that include: complaints from residents and inspection by my staff of areas in the 5th District. When we receive a complaint or we see a problem sidewalk, my staff goes out and photographs the sidewalk. A report and the photograph are logged in our data system, forwarded to Public Works and mapped/GPS so we can see location. We then work with Public Works to bunch sidewalk repairs together so an entire area can be repaired instead of a scattergun approach (used before I came to office).
As usual, you can call my office or email us, or go on my website at: http://www.lbdistrict5.com/ and complete a service request form and we will respond with a staff inspection.