Beach Street closures led to few problems, Long Beach residents, business owners say

LONG BEACH >> A CicLAvia-like bicycle festival closed 4-miles of major roads here Saturday but it seemed many logistical problems were avoided.

Residents and businesses along the Beach Streets Downtown route were conceed about how the event would impact the neighborhoods where parking is already at a premium. The Long Beach Police Department on Saturday afteoon did not have information on how many vehicles were towed from the festival route.

“So far it looks pretty awesome,” said Katy Dimmick, owner of Beauty and Wellness Day Spa on Broadway.

Dimmick said the benefits of having more pedestrian and bicycle traffic outweigh the canceled appointments and inability to park in front of her business for the day.

Other business owners were also happy to be able to reach potential customers as they walked or biked in the area.

“I’m totally on board,” said Michele McAlister, owner of Messy Mutt in Alamitos Beach. “I waa be out riding. This is about community. I hope to see more people out.”

Some area residents said they had to do some early plaing to make it around the street closures.

Shawn Adams, an Alamitos Beach resident, said he had to do some advanced plaing and was not going to move his car until the festival was over.

Despite the inconvenience, he did decide to take advantage of the foot and bike traffic.

He walked to Long Beach Police Department Headquarters early Saturday moing to pick up a street vendor permit and held a sidewalk sale in front of his apartment where games, decorations and pop culture memorabilia were laid out near Broadway and Falcon Avenue.

For 2nd District Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal, Beach Streets Downtown is the culmination of many years of work.

“When I started on the Council almost 10 years ago I started working on bicycle mobility,” Lowenthal said. “It takes time. Cities have been built around cars. The overwhelming response is people love it. I have to commend our special events group led by Tasha Day.”

Lowenthal said she recognizes that the event was an inconvenience to residents and businesses, but that setting aside one day to embrace alteate forms of transportation and to encourage people to experience their city from a different perspective was well worth a temporary sacrifice.

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Though her final term on the City Council is coming to an end, Lowenthal hopes the city will continue to take strides in promoting alteative transportation. One goal she hopes future city leaders will embrace is identifying sections of roadway that can be permanently closed to automobile traffic.

“We’re paving the way, installment by installment,” she said.