After countless meetings and hours of planning the Santa Monica Boulevard Reconstruction Project, Beverly Hills is ready to get the “road on the show,” Mayor John Mirisch said Tuesday.

The Santa Monica Boulevard Reconstruction Project in Beverly Hills will be split in two segments that will take nine months each to complete.
(photo by Gregory Cornfield)

The Beverly Hills City Council this week approved the specifics for the construction sequencing, project scheduling, parking strategies and the mitigation “tool box” for the project that will take approximately 18 months to complete.

Construction is set to start in the beginning of January and will require continuous lane closures, including a one-month period when it will be reduced to one lane in each direction.

The plan is to completely rebuild a 1.8-mile segment of roadway and upgrade a century-old drainage system between Doheny Drive and Wilshire Boulevard. The project design includes upgraded access ramps to comply with Americans with Disability Access (ADA) standards, as well as “green street” drainage, decorative LED street lights, drought-tolerant landscaping and widening a portion of the roadway between Canon Drive and Wilshire Boulevard.

The council stressed that staff should reach out to warn residents as early as possible about the closures.

“Let’s start tomorrow,” said Councilwoman Lili Bosse. “Let’s start immediately. We can’t get this information out fast enough. As far as I’m concerned, we should be pushing this out as often and as frequently as possible. We shouldn’t wait. As soon as we tie this up, we should start.”

The city will send notices to businesses and residents weeks ahead of the start dates and will plan community meetings to keep the city updated and to address any concerns as the project advances.

Beverly Hills City Manager Mahdi Aluzri said the message will be “we understand your pain” with the increased traffic congestion.

“Good luck to us all,” Councilwoman Kathy Reims said.

The city council and staff have been evaluating options for the lane closures. The project schedule reflects the community’s and city’s effort to avoid interrupting the holiday business season. The project starts immediately after the 2016 holiday season and closures are set to be less restrictive during the 2017 holiday season, but residents will be warned to avoid it whenever possible.

“If you have an alternate route, take it,” Mirisch said.

Almost every public speaker and every council member however, said that they are excited to start the project because of necessary repairs, and said the closures will be worth the inconvenience.

Mirisch said Santa Monica Boulevard is the only remaining street in Beverly Hills that has potholes.

“[The project] will bring Santa Monica Boulevard back up to Beverly Hills’ standards and beyond, and that’s great,” he said. “It is, after all, historic Route 66.”

On Tuesday, the city council approved a plan that will divide the construction into two segments: the West Segment from Wilshire Boulevard to Alpine Drive, and the East Segment from Alpine Drive to Doheny Drive. Each segment is expected to be completed within nine months.

Each segment is also broken into phases – A to D – to differentiate the work schedule and the number of lanes that will be open.

Phase A and B will be the least restrictive, allowing four lanes of travel. Phase A will take approximately 75 working days on the north side to fix sidewalks, curbs, driveways and street lights. Phase B will take approximately 45 working days on the south side. Two westbound and two eastbound lanes will be maintained throughout this period with a minimum of two locations for left turns into the business triangle.

Phase C will take approximately 25 working days to support roadway section removal on the southern half. Phase C is the most restrictive, but will also be the shortest in duration.

Phase D will take approximately 40 working days to reconstruct the remaining northern half.

Aluzri said ensuring that the Beverly Hills Police and Fire Departments have appropriate resources was one of the main issues addressed during the committee and commission hearings. Representatives with the two departments said Tuesday they purchased new motorcycles and new bicycles to ensure they will be able to address any potential issues when congestion will be at its worst along the boulevard.