The Seventh Street pedestrian bridge that crosses over a freeway exit near Cal State Long Beach could be getting a facelift that will include new lighting, colored panels and large lettering spelling out “Long Beach,” if the design is approved by state officials.
Mayor Robert Garcia unveiled a model of what the new bridge could look like Friday during an Instagram live where he was standing near the bridge on the side of the freeway. Garcia panned across a miniature model showing the bridge redone with blue and white color panels and the city’s name.
“I’ve been working on this project for a long time,” Garcia said. “That is the new entryway to Long Beach here.”
This is going to be incredible! Check out my final project as mayor: our new east side entrance to Long Beach. And it lights up at night. pic.twitter.com/eN0nR2M3pM
— Office of Mayor Rex Richardson (@LongBeachMayor) December 16, 2022
The structure connects the Bixby Hill and University Park Estates neighborhoods by allowing pedestrians traveling along the riverbed to cross over the 22 Freeway as it turns into Seventh Street.
When the project could break ground is unclear. Joy Contreras, a spokesperson for the Public Works Department, said the project is at the conceptual design part of the process. It will now head into the design phase before construction can be scheduled.
Contreras said that the project is currently estimated to cost $700,000, and the final design still needs to be approved by CalTrans, but, she added, CalTrans has already approved the conceptual design presented by the city.
The city began an effort in 2015 to overhaul the city’s wayfinding signs by making them more uniform and adding gateway signage at entry points into the city. The city has already placed a large “Long Beach” sign near the 710 Freeway’s exits into Downtown and has been placing other entryway signs like the one planned for the north end of Studebaker Road in an upcoming project.
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