The second phase of a $65 million terminal improvement project at Long Beach Airport that was approved by the City Council in May 2018 continues to snake its way toward completion as the city will begin circulating environmental documents for the project later this month.
A memo from Long Beach Airport Director Cynthia Guidry to the city manager’s office said that the airport will begin to notice the public of the availability of a draft environmental assessment on or around Sept. 30, with a public comment period lasting for 30 days once the notice is posted.
While the document will be available online through the airport’s website, hard copies of the document will be available for public review at four locations throughout the city including City Hall, the Long Beach Airport Administration office, and the Bach and Los Altos Neighborhood Libraries.
A fifth location, the Federal Aviation Administration Office of Airports in El Segundo will have also have a copy for public review. The FAA is the lead agency ensuring that the project is in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act.
The $65.2 million project will overhaul the existing airport as Long Beach residents and visitors know it today.
The ticketing offices located in the historic terminal building would be moved to a yet-to-be constructed ticketing lobby, a new baggage claim area would be constructed within the airport as well as creating a new rental car area where the current ticketing area exists.
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The project also includes improvements to the roadway loop and the development of a new ground transportation area as well as refurbishment of the historic terminal building’s floors.
At the time of the council’s awarding of the contract, construction was estimated to last from 2018 through 2021 with completion of the terminal rehabilitation and relocation of the rental car services to be completed by the end of this year. However, progress of the project has lagged.
An environmental assessment was needed because of the terminal building’s historic status.
The public comments gathered once the environmental assessment is circulated to the public will be reviewed by the FAA, which will then rule whether an environmental impact statement is necessary because the proposed terminal improvements have the potential to “cause significant environmental effects” to the historic building.
If the FAA rules that an environmental study is required, it is unclear how long that could push back construction. Calls to the airport and to the city manager’s office were not immediately returned.
If an environmental impact statement is not required, construction on the project could start as soon as December.
The addresses for the five locations that will have the environmental assessment available are:
- Long Beach Airport, Administration Office, 4100 E. Donald Douglas Drive, second floor, Long Beach
- Long Beach City Hall, 411 W. Ocean Boulevard, first floor, Long Beach
- Bach Neighborhood Library, 4055 N. Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach
- Los Altos Neighborhood Library, 5614 Britton Drive, Long Beach
- Federal Aviation Administration Office of Airports, 777 South Aviation Blvd., suite 150, El Segundo