Recommendation to receive the supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing, and adopt resolution approving and certifying Environmental Impact Report (EIR 01-20)/ Environmental Assessment No. 273000, making certain California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Findings and Determinations relative thereto; and Adopting a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (Environmental Commitments), as set forth in said Resolution, in accordance with those measures as set forth in EIR 01-20; for the Shoemaker Bridge Replacement Project (State Clearinghouse No. 2016041007). (Districts 1,2)
Okay. Consent calendar is passed. Item 15 has been withdrawn. And so we'll move on to. Which was a hearing. So we're going to now move on to item 16 and if I could. And please Mr. Phones. Thank you. Item six. Madam Court. Report from Public Works Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing and adopt a resolution approving and certifying Environmental Impact Report and adopting a mitigation, monitoring and reporting program for the Shoemaker Bridge Replacement Project Districts one and two. I can turn this over to staff. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. So this is American. So we are really at a juncture for a very important project that we want to give you a briefing on. I do want to point out that this isn't the first time that we're using the WebEx system to display the PowerPoint. So that should be on the screen for everyone at home and for you as well. And so we do have a presentation we'd like to go through. Craig back will give that presentation. This really is a project that could be one of those signature Long Beach projects. As you come into the downtown with some fantastic architecture. It's a park project as well, as well as a mobility and a safety project. And so it's many years in the making. We're asking you to certify the air tonight. And with that, I will turn it over to Craig back to walk us through it. Thank you, Mr. City Manager, Mayor, Members, City Council. Thank you for the opportunity tonight to present a fantastic project. This is ai7 ten early action project and it essentially entails the construction of a new bridge connecting the 710 to downtown Long Beach. As the city manager details. It also provides us an opportunity to create new park space in the west end of our downtown. So this has been a long time in the making with a lot of community participation and and a lot of support from staff. Our lead staff is the city's engineer, Alvin Papa. He's been involved in this from day one. And I'm going to ask Alvin to go through some of the details of the air, what the study was, general timelines on this project, and then be available to answer any questions. So, Alvin. Thank you, Craig. Hello, honorable mayor and members of city council. What you have here today is for the public hearing for approval and certification of an environmental impact report for the Shoemaker Bridge Replacement Project. For the format of this presentation, I'm going to talk a little bit about the purpose and need and then discuss the various alternatives that were evaluated, how we arrive to a preferred alternative, along with a summary of the environmental process and the timeline, along with next steps. On the second slide. This is the purpose and need slide. So with regards to the Shoemaker Bridge, the bridge was built in 1954. The current structure has structural and operational deficiencies, and it also has a higher accident rate than the state average. So the goal of the project is actually to build, to rebuild the bridge so that we have a new facility that's current with highway safety standards. In addition, the new bridge will enhance the regional connections to our downtown by providing better access to the 710 freeway and connections. It should be noted that this project is an early action item. But once again, the mayor, everyone's on me and you never want to go into it except for the staff making a presentation once. I thank you. So it should be important to note that this project is an early action project of the ice of intense South Corridor Improvement Project. It's consistent with our planning documents for future growth, and it's also compatible with our planned future projects and developments in the area. On slide number three, what you have here is a map of the project along with the limits. So the project is located at the terminus of the Ice 710 Freeway. The new bridge that's being proposed is proposed to be built south of the existing bridge. As part of the project, ninth and 10th Street. Off ramps on the west side of the L.A. River are proposed to be closed. So the project limits were spent extended to the north and to the west so that we can consider any potential impacts as a result of those closures. Additionally, additional. Additionally, though, this is the mayor. 1/2. I need everyone to bring me down. Right. Additionally, there are local street connections that are going to be realigned to improve circulation throughout the downtown. And as part of this project, six and Seven Street will be converted from one way streets to two two way streets. This will help align those street segments with the connection over by Atlantic, which are currently two way streets. On Slide four, you'll see an overview of the different alternatives that were looked at. There were three alternatives and two design options. And as part of this environmental impact report, there were various technical technical studies that were looked at in various topics, and we evaluated each of these alternatives and options through those studies to see if there's any potential impacts and any mitigation or monitoring that would be required. So on the next slides, I'm going to go through each alternative and the two design options. On Slide five. This is alternative number one, the no build otherwise known as a do nothing option. In this option, there is no project. As a result of that, the structure would continue to be structurally deficient. We would continue to have high accident rates. And then in the future, this this area and the project would not be consistent with our future growth and any developments that came in the area. The next slide. Slide number six. Alternative number two. This calls for building a new bridge and then reusing a portion of the existing bridge for non transportation use where it would accommodate walking, biking and potentially jogging. Slide number seven is alternative number three, which is very similar to alternative number two, where we would build a new bridge south of the existing bridge. Except the difference is that we would completely remove the old structure. And this. This includes removal of all the piers that exist within the L.A. River. Slide number eight shows the design option A, which is a roundabout. So as part of the two design options, this design option A would be an elevated roundabout which would provide access to and from the I7 ten Freeway via Shoreline Drive and Seventh Street. And one thing to note is this hasn't been done in California. So this would be a one of the first of its kind in California. The next option is design option B, which is the Y intersection. This is a more traditional design and this is a design that we've been looking at and working with with Caltrans over the years. And it also has a smaller visual footprint when compared to the roundabout. It's going to take a lot of time here on this slide. This is the preferred alternative. So this preferred alternative was selected by the project design team. And the project design team consists of a mixture of Caltrans staff, city staff and consultant staff that designed the project. One thing I want to mention is that back in 2000, the California Transportation Commission passed a resolution to accept the Shoemaker Bridge as part of the I7 ten Freeway. And as part of the planning for the Shoemaker bridge process, when construction is done, the Shoemaker Bridge is going to be transferred to Caltrans for maintenance. The city, in the end ultimately will be responsible for all the local street connections, and Caltrans will be responsible for the Shoemaker Bridge with its associated ramps. And as a result of this and the reason I bring this up is Caltrans input has a lot to do with influencing the preferred alternative. And the preferred alternative is alternative three a. And this this alternative is construction of a new bridge. Complete removal of the existing bridge. And its construction of a roundabout at the terminus of the freeway. And as part of the selection of the preferred alternative, the project design team determined that this best satisfied the purpose in need of the project. It also minimizes the risk to habitat and hydraulic hydraulics due to the removal removal of all the piers within the L.A. River. And based on the traffic models that were were done to evaluate analysis of the different options, the roundabout had better safety and operations within the traffic model that was used. One thing I want to mention is that Caltrans and Long Beach staff, we did differ in opinion in some categories with this, but ultimately we agreed to move forward with Caltrans preference, which was this roundabout option. And the reason we did that is so that we can approve this environmental document today, so that we can meet the funding deadlines that we have for future design funding. This next slide, slide 11. This is a this is a concept of what this project could look like under this preferred alternative. Ultimately, the final project might be different based on the different options and alternatives. So although we selected a preferred alternative, it is just that it's a preferred alternative. If you remember, I think a couple of months ago when we had a design contract that we amended, there's additional design that we're doing. So we are looking at the roundabout and we option a little further along with different alternatives, and we're going to get them a little bit further. And if it's decided in the future that those options are preferred, we can always come back and amend it and supplement the IIR as needed to reflect the final design. So looking at this design, after the environmental impact is completed, we would start a bridge type selection process. So one of the concepts, the concept you're looking now is single pylon cables, the type bridge. But what we would actually do is when we start the design process, we would come back to City Council with various types of design options so that council could make a policy decision on the type of bridge that would best fit the city. And the final design would move forward based on that policy decision. And the cost would also reflect that decision. On the right hand side, you'll notice this is Drake Chavez Park and you'll also see on the top right hand side, that's the existing configuration of shoreline drive. So for those of you that drive Shoreline Drive, you'll notice that there's a there's a no man's land between both sides of Shoreline Drive. And as part of this project will be realigning that street and combining those two segments so that the bifurcated portions of park could be reintegrated together. And so in the end, what this does is remove five and a half acres of roadway within Chavez Park and we'll have a this will result in a net gain of approximately four acres of parkland. And as part of that, we'd also establish enhanced active transportation connections to downtown through Drake Park and to the L.A. River. On the next slide, slide 12. This is a summary of all the environmental impacts. If you look at this table, there's a lot of different topics that were investigated as part of this environmental study. I mean, overall, to summarize it quite succinctly, the majority of environmental topics reviewed revealed that there were there was no impact or less than a significant impact. You see, there were a few categories where mitigation does need to be incorporated. Um, but these have been looked at and these mitigation measures are fully enforceable through permits and agreements which are, which are identified in the environmental commitment record and as part of the mitigation monitoring plan. On this next slide is the project schedule. You'll see the schedule here over the next couple of years with anticipated start of construction somewhere around 2023 in the box to the right. You will see next steps. So if the environmental document is approved today, the next step would be to move forward with the design. We would move forward with allocation of funding for a design process to finish the design process. We would start the bridge type selection process and return to City Council with further information on the different type of options. And then we'll continue to look at the different alternatives to be included in the final design and amend the environmental document as needed. And with that, the recommendation today is for city council to receive the sort of supporting documentation into the record, to conclude the public hearing, to adopt the resolution approving and certifying the E.R. and to adopt a mitigation and monitoring and reporting program as part of the resolution that you are approving today. And that concludes my presentation. And staff, along with our consultants, are here to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you. Thank you and really just much presentation. So I think that. Going to go ahead and turn this over to Council Member Sandy Haslam, District one of the motion. To get in is something that I'm personally very excited to see moving forward, especially in looking at how this might impact space in the First District, having access to green spaces, incredibly important to my residents that they I will not lose opportunities for being there. So I'm really excited about this. This is something that I'm passionate about and I think that is something amazing that we can bring to our city. So I'm seeking the support of my colleagues to move this forward, to get into this that this resolution and the report. Thank you. Councilman Pierce. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Alvin, for the great presentation. I think the designs obviously look very exciting, something that we've all been waiting years for I to support additional green space. I would be remiss if I did not say that a a floating roundabout kind of terrifies me, but it looks really cool. So I have just two questions on. I appreciate that we can come back as we explore other design models. What's the speed limit going to be in that area? Do we expect it to be? I'm just curious. The speed limit will be determined by the final design and is based on kind of the geometry and and a lot of other factors that we're going to we're going to design. Well, I think the circle looks really cool. And but I'm terrified that somebody would go flying off the side. But I welcome you guys to continue to do the good work and look forward to getting this through this next hurdle. So I do support this and I hope my council colleagues will, too. Thank you. District eight. Hi. I'd like to offer my support for the design. We are going to add Environmental Impact Report as is no small deal. So congratulations to 2 to 2 staff, but also to the residents of Long Beach. This has been a long visit. This has been discussed as long as I've been on the city council. I believe this is a project that is in the long term interest of our city and consistent with our vision of making our downtown more accessible, but also improving our just thruway accessibility for residents as long as the goods movement while coming over to the freeway. I did have a question regarding the construction number that I hear construction would be ready in 2023. Will we be ready for construction if the timeline. Councilmember Austin. That is correct. I think if we can meet our timelines that were laid out, which includes adoption of the E.R. today. Also funding of the design by the CTSI scheduled for June that we believe we can complete the necessary final design, get council support of that final design, get bid documents out, and be ready to start construction by 2023. So that is our schedule. You have a team that's committed to delivering that as long as we can meet some of these milestones. And are we are we the project funded? I know this to some the air and some of the early funds that we are putting forward are actually some measure are of early action items. But where is the funding for this project coming from and what is there own? Is there a gap? Council member. I think you've identified that as correct. It was one of the early action projects identified as part of the I 17 overall effort. We don't know exactly what the gap is. There are some estimates as to the preferred design and costs associated with getting that final design completed. There's roughly $14 million of funding identified that we're going to be requesting the CTSI to approve in June. The current estimate shows that there is a funding gap beyond that 14 million. We'll be working with our partner agencies to to finalize commitment for this design and move this all forward. And we can keep council apprized as those conversations move forward. I was looking more for the overall for construction. I think this as chair of the Fed merged committee and hearing conversations from Washington DC about potential future stimulus regarding infrastructure. I think this should be a high priority and will be a high priority for the city to fund this project, because I think it's very important for our future for many levels economic development, but mobility for our residents and goods movement from the port. And so I like I said, I really support this. I think this is an important project for the city. And to to one more request is that this was presentation. If you can email the documents as well, because I don't think the staff report that we have. Councilmember. We're happy to do that. Thank you. Councilman Glenda. Thank you. This is exactly what we've been talking about in the, you know, infrastructure committee that we have that we have in council. When I was a member of it were six years ago. So this is a culmination of a long series of meetings and discussions, especially with Caltrans and the Southern Committee. So really looking forward to the completion of this project. And I want to congratulate staff a job well done. Thank you. Councilman Price. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I, too, want to thank staff for the presentation. And like my colleagues just said, this is a project we've been talking about for many years now. So I want to acknowledge the work that. Now, Senator then Councilwoman Gonzalez and Councilman Lowenthal did in these conversations. I know that we talked about them a lot when they were on the council and how the ones that they asked hasn't missed a beat. She picked up right where they left off and is bringing this project forward. And I think staff did a great job on the presentation, so I offer my full support. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes council comments. We have a motion any second. I will go ahead with. Of course the comments have been any comments or submitted? Three comments. And with that, we will take the vote. Madam, what happens? District one. And. District two? District two. I spoke about that district three. I. District four. I. District five. My District six. Right. District seven. District eight. I. District nine. I. Motion carries.