Studebaker Road overhaul in Long Beach now expected to cost about $38 million and start next spring

Long Beach's long-awaited overhaul of Studebaker Road will take longer and cost considerably more than first expected, city officials told the City Council this week. The 5-mile corridor runs the length of the city, from Second Street to the Los Coyotes Diagonal.

The Department of Public Works gave the council its first update on the project since December at the Tuesday, June 6 meeting. In the seven months since, staff advanced the design work and found higher costs and a longer schedule. The estimate now stands at about $38 million, up from the city's original figure of $18 million, and construction has slipped from this fall to next spring.

Public Works director Eric Lopez said the corridor crosses three council districts and will be the largest major corridor project the city has undertaken once construction begins. "It will include different variations of roadway improvement," he said.

The design presented to the council includes bikeways, bulb-outs at intersections, signage, bus stop enhancements and curb cuts meeting Americans With Disabilities Act requirements. One of the largest changes would convert the Studebaker and Los Coyotes Diagonal intersection into a T-intersection, with new crosswalks, medians and signal upgrades. Lopez called that work "very complex and complicated" and said its costs came in higher than earlier projections. Those plans are about 90% complete, he said.

Part of the added expense stems from the stretch of Studebaker between Loynes and Second, which borders the Los Cerritos Wetlands and was built over an old landfill. Uneven settling there has for decades created undulating pavement, and the problem has returned even after repaving. Further design work since December showed that water flow and drainage requirements are far stricter than anticipated, Lopez said. The city must capture stormwater runoff before it reaches the wetlands, and the poor soil will need extra treatment. The additional work, he said, will eliminate the humps in the road and make the street safer overall.

Even as the estimate has nearly doubled, Public Works has lined up more money to offset the effect on the city's budget. About $25 million is currently set aside, including an $8,750,000 grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and $8.5 million from the city's Measure A bond program, a $5 million increase in Measure A funds since the last update.

Staff have also identified roughly $22 million more from various sources that the city is still working to secure. Some may come from the federal government, including a $5 million earmark funding recommendation from Rep. Robert Garcia's office and a potential $6.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Lopez said federal money was not on the city's radar in December. "It's very good news that we have federal funding — which will allow us to do more with city funding," he said.

The city expects to seek construction bids this fall and begin work in the spring, provided the additional funding comes through.

Studebaker is the fourth major Complete Streets project in Long Beach. Broadway has essentially been finished, while Artesia Boulevard and Market Street are under construction. Public Works is also assembling funding for a project on Anaheim Street.