PRESS RELEASE

Beginning the week of March 21, 2016, the City of Long Beach will change street sweeping times in parking impacted neighborhoods by eliminating 4:00 am sweeping times, and moving most sweeping times to 8:00 am or later.

“This is the largest parking reform in more than 30 years, and it will improve the quality of life for thousands of residents,” said Mayor Robert Garcia, who called for the improvements in the 2016 Fiscal Year Budget. “We will sweep streets in parking impacted neighborhoods later in the day, and we’re also shortening the time periods that limit when people can park their vehicles.”

Over the next year, the City will also make additional street sweeping parking reforms, including reducing parking restrictions from four hours to two hours, and changing street sweeping days from trash pickup days.

“Changing our street sweeping times has been one of my top priorities these past few years, and I am glad we are moving forward to eliminate most 4:00 am zones throughout District 2 and the City,” said Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal. “Not only is it inhumane, it just makes better sense, especially in a part of the city that is 100 percent parking impacted.”

The improvements will be phased in over approximately one year, as thousands of signs will be changed to reflect new street sweeping times. Therefore, it is critical that the public check surrounding signs before parking their vehicle to ensure compliance with any revised parking restrictions.

“By changing our sweeping times, we’re allowing our residents to rest easier and know that they can get those extra hours of sleep without having to wake up to a citation,” said Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez.

The street sweeping improvements are located mostly in parking impacted neighborhoods. Most neighborhoods in Long Beach will not have any changes to street sweeping schedules.

“Changing the City’s street sweeping routes is one large jigsaw puzzle – and one that we’re on our way to solving as we start with Phase 1. I know that this will be a positive impact on our residents’ quality of life,” said Councilwoman Suzie Price.

The improvements to be rolled out over approximately one year will include the following:

• Elimination of all 4:00 am to 5:00 am parking restrictions citywide.

• Elimination of most 4:00 am to 6:00 am parking restrictions in Downtown Long Beach south of Anaheim Street (exceptions include areas around schools).

• In the areas identified as parking-impacted, all routes are moved to a two-hour window (with the exception of 7th street and schools).

• Ocean Boulevard, Broadway, Anaheim Street, and 7th Street are the only major corridors in the Phase 1 parking impacted area that are swept earlier than 8:00 am (due to driver safety reasons). Ocean Boulevard from Cherry to Park will move to 6:00 am to 8:00 am (like Broadway). Alamitos Avenue from Ocean to Anaheim will move to 6:00 am to 8:00 am.

The most parking-impacted neighborhoods in the City (in the area bordered by Alamitos Avenue, Cherry Avenue, Ocean Boulevard and 7th Street now all have two-hour windows that start after 9:00 am.

Street sweeping is required to keep debris from entering storm drains and polluting our beaches and waterways. The City of Long Beach program sweeps approximately 150,000 miles and collects nearly 11,000 tons of debris each year.

For more information, visit www.longbeach.gov/pw.