Long Beach officials will host a virtual meeting Thursday night to discuss plans for a $3.7 million infrastructure improvement project along Santa Fe Avenue in West Long Beach.

Funded partly by Los Angeles County and the city, the scope of the Santa Fe Avenue Synchronization Improvement Project stretches from the lower Westside from Anaheim Street north to the upper Westside at Wardlow Road.

The project is part of the 2021 Federal Transportation Improvement Program, which is a federally mandated list of transportation investment priorities in Southern California. This year’s program includes about 2,000 projects for the region, totaling nearly $35.3 billion over a six-year period, according to a program fact sheet.

The Santa Fe project will upgrade traffic signals along the Santa Fe corridor by replacing existing signal controllers with advanced traffic controllers, which can use sensors to monitor directional traffic flow, install a bike route and traffic cameras, and add pedestrian push buttons and LED countdown pedestrian signals.

While the costs of the project is nearly all paid for, the city council still needs to accept federal funds and appropriate city funds for the project, which the council will review during its Tuesday, Oct. 19 meeting, said Joy Contreras, spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Public Works.

Construction is slated to begin in early 2022 and should last nine months, Contreras said.

The virtual meeting starts at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 7, and will residents to ask questions about the project, said Contreras. To register for the Zoom meeting, click here. Attendees may also call in at 213-338-8477 (meeting ID: 998 6180 2751).

The presentation will be done in English with interpreters available for languages in Spanish, Tagalog and Khmer, Contreras said.

Anyone wanting more information can contact the Public Works Department at [email protected] or 562-570-6383.

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