Photos by Melitza Beltran.

Parking for North Pine residents just got a little bit easier.

Today, the City of Long Beach announced the creation of 30 new diagonal parking spaces on Ninth Street, between Pacific Avenue and Long Beach Boulevard.

The area’s parallel parking spaces were converted into diagonal spaces on the north side of the street. Prior to the conversion, Ninth Street had 35 parallel parking spots. Now, it has 65 diagonal parking spaces.

Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez was on hand to reveal the new spaces, noting that it was the community who brought the idea for the parking spaces forward.

“Many residents have known that this [parking] has certainly affected their livelihood,” Gonzalez said. “We want to make sure we make it a little bit easier here on behalf of the city. It’s the little things we can do for the city, in the city, that affect our neighborhoods and our neighbors.”

The parking request was sent to the city’s Public Works department, where a traffic study was conducted to see whether the diagonal spots could be placed safely in the area. City engineers gave the project the green light, said Sean Crumby, Deputy Director of Public Works.

The additional parking is going to serve the area as downtown continues to grow and attract more residents and business owners, Gonzalez said.

“It’s 30 spots and people don’t think it’s a big deal, but it really is for this neighborhood,” Gonzalez said. “Especially as we’re so impacted.”