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Sep 08, 2023

Plans to better connect folks to San Pedro’s evolving landscape coming later this year

A plan designed to better physically connect people to where they want to go in

A plan designed to better physically connect people to where they want to go in San Pedro is expected to be unveiled soon — but it's still unknown whether it will solve all those traffic and parking problems in the fast-changing port community.

Either way, though, there will be plenty of anticipation to see what will be on the recommended list that's expected to be unveiled across several meetings during the summer and early fall.

Dubbed the connectivity plan, the proposal should roll out this summer but will ultimately have to go before the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners. The contract with the firm conducting the study — SWA Group, Inc., which worked on Redondo Beach's King Harbor — was set to run for a year, until this July, but has been extended until October, said Mike Galvin, director of waterfront and commercial real estate for the Port of Los Angeles.

Water taxis, trolley systems, digital signage and parking will all be addressed, Galvin said.

Among additional input needed, he said, was from more Rancho San Pedro residents.

"Parking is a big component," Galvin said. "Especially with more regional visitors, it's going to be critical.

"Initially, we won't be looking at a parking structure," he added. "We’ll be looking at what we have available."

That means further developing the existing large parking lots on 22nd Street and near the Port of Los Angeles's Outer Harbor and AltaSea, he said.

While last weekend's Fleet Week went smoothly, Galvin said, "a little more parking would help, generally."

The issues of traffic and parking are gaining prominence as San Pedro goes through a rapid change via a development boom, including plans for a new waterfront opening in early 2025, an amphitheater coming in as part of that development, a boutique hotel in downtown, and a growing number of midrise, mixed-use buildings going up that have brought thousands of new residents into the heart of downtown and near the waterfront.

A ramping up of the port's cruise business, meanwhile, has created some new issues. Memorial Day weekend's LA Fleet Week saw some parking issues because of cruise ships also being in port over the same days.

Using more of the remote areas to the south will mean getting a stronger public transportation system in place to move folks through town, Galvin said.

"My biggest hope is that they figure out some sort of off-street transit," said Diana Nave of the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council. "They took out the (Red Car) trolley and the tracks, they’re putting a park in the middle of the trolley right-of-way (on Harbor Boulevard), so moving people is the biggest issue."

And sending folks to 22nd Street for parking, she said, won't help traffic issues through town.

Elise Swanson, president and CEO of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce, said an upgraded rubber-tire trolley system could help, noting that the Los Angeles Department of Transportation also is about to embark on yet another parking study in San Pedro.

She said parking management plans could also help.

"People want a (parking) structure and the funding for that could come together, but in talking to a parking consultant, I was told parking spaces are generally (available) but it's just how you manage them," she said. "We do have spaces, but are they being managed effectively?"

Another need, Galvin said, will be digital signs on the 110 Freeway during special events to let folks know where parking is available.

Looking ahead, there also could be issues surrounding the new cruise terminal set to be built in San Pedro's Outer Harbor — the bids for that should go out this summer, Galvin said.

The Battleship Iowa plans, meanwhile, call for that historic ship to be moved from near the current cruise terminal to the Southern Pacific Slip to the south, closer to the new West Harbor development and amphitheater, opening up more berth space for the existing cruise terminal near the Vincent Thomas Bridge.

Long-term plans are needed and will be coming, Galvin said.

"There are a lot of moving parts," he said.

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