Century Boulevard Extension from Grape Street to Alameda Street

Location

Grape Street and Century Boulevard

City or County Responsible for Project

City of Los Angeles

Category

Complete Streets Projects

Author

Ramnik D. Mungra

Organization

Engineering, City of Los Angeles

Address

1149 S. Broadway, Suite 810, Los Angeles, CA 90015

Phone

213-485-4526

Project Description

As part of the Jordan Downs Redevelopment in the Watts Community of Los Angeles, the Century Boulevard Extension Project extended Century Boulevard from Grape Street to Alameda Street. Century Boulevard was designed and constructed as a neighborhood “Main Street” consistent with the Jordan Downs Urban Village (JDUV) Specific Plan. The project constructed a multimodal roadway where no streets, bike lanes, sidewalks, or pedestrian enhancements previously existed. This half-mile roadway serves as the spine of a 119-acre mixed use redevelopment connecting 1,800 residential units, open spaces, community facilities, and retail spaces while promoting sustainability and alternatives to car ridership by providing bus access, bike lanes, sidewalks, and traffic calming features. Utility infrastructure for the redevelopment was also included as part of this project. The sustainability features of this project included 30 Biofiltration units that treat stormwater runoff. The project also installed 25 underground bottomless tanks with the capacity to store and infiltrate 190,000 gallons of stormwater, enabling compliance with Los Angeles County stormwater discharge requirements. This project also constructed a six-foot wide Class II Bike lane that expands the bicycle network serving the Watts Community as well as a six-foot wide sidewalk with curb extensions to improve pedestrian safety at street crossings. In addition, the project modified two existing traffic signals and installed four new traffic signals for improved pedestrian safety. The project added 143 street trees and 12,000 drought-resistant plants in irrigated and landscaped six-foot wide parkways. In addition, the project installed two bus stops and 48 new LED street lights. These improvements make the Century Boulevard Extension project a complete street in terms of safety, sustainability, and accommodating multiple modes of transportation and serves as a model for future streets in the City of Los Angeles.