The City of Long Beach recently celebrated the completion of the Artesia Great Boulevard Project, a transformative street infrastructure project spanning 3.2 miles of Artesia Boulevard between Harbor and Downey Avenues that will bring safer streets to the area.

The $400 million project brought major safety improvements to the stretch of Artesia Boulevard including new protected bike lanes, protected intersections and highly visible crosswalks as well as roadway asphalt resurfacing and rehabilitated sidewalks to improve road conditions and travel experience. Enhanced traffic signals were also installed to improve efficiency and slow traffic, along with upgraded and more accessible bus stops and modern pedestrian lighting.

Beautification features were also introduced to create a more welcoming environment. Fresh landscaped medians decorated with native plants were added to the area, and about 400 newly planted drought-tolerant trees now line the corridor. Biofiltration catch basins were also installed to reduce stormwater runoff and improve water quality.

Artesia Boulevard

These enhancements reflect the guiding principles of the federally recognized Complete Streets approach to designing corridors that accommodate all modes of travel, not just vehicles, to meet the diverse transportation needs of the community.

The Artesia Great Boulevard Project is part of the City’s Elevate ’28, a five-year investment plan to elevate Long Beach’s parks, neighborhoods and culture, and aligns with the Safe Streets Long Beach Action Plan, an effort to curb traffic-related deaths and serious injuries citywide by 2026.

Through the Artesia Boulevard project and other major corridor infrastructure projects taking place citywide, like the Anaheim Street, Market Street and Studebaker Road corridors, the City continues to build a safer, greener and more connected commuting ecosystem for Long Beach.