Bumpier Road Ahead for Illinois Ave.

Illinois Avenue homeowners have petitioned the city for speed bumps on their newly re-paved street, as more motorists are reportedly using the two-way West End street and with a heavier foot.

The proposed installation of the bumps on Illinois is just one of various road work projects slated for West End streets in the coming months and years, Jim LaCarrubba, the City of Long Beach’s commissioner of public works, announced at the West End Neighbors Civic Association meeting last week.  

This summer the Westbury-based Roadwork Ahead reconstructed Illinois Avenue, between West Beech Street and West Park Avenue, repaving the road and rebuilding the sidewalks, and earlier this month the city hired the same contractor to perform essentially the same work at a section of Grand Boulevard, the work of which will start about two weeks from when LaCarrubba spoke at the Sept. 18 meeting.

“When [Roadwork Ahead] starts to do the asphalt work on Grand, [the company] will set the speed bumps on Illinois,” LaCarrubba said. “ …  So the speed bumps are going to be addressed when we do the paving on Grand Boulevard.”

The bumps on Illinois will be permanent, instead of removable, and will feature a more gradual elevation, rather than a more abrupt hump. “This way when we [use a snow] plow they’re not an obstruction, and they can stay there year round,” LaCarrubba said.

Homeowners on any city street who want speed bumps installed on their streets must sign a petition and submit it to the city for consideration.

An Illinois resident who spoke with Patch this week said that since the blocks was repaved more motorists have used the road and have increased their speed.

At last week’s meeting, LaCarrubba said that when a street is re-paved, especially a two-way street like Illinois, motorists generally use it more and

increase their speed, “because it’s nice and smooth and that’s where everybody’s driving now because they don’t want to go on some of the other roads.”

The commissioner also announced that the city would work on designs for reconstruction at Georgia Avenue, from West Beech Street to the beach, this fall. “With construction set up for 2014,” he added.

Connecticut Avenue is also slated for reconstruction in two years, the commissioner said. And National Grid is scheduled to replace a gas main on Maryland Street, south of West Beech, and the city will ask the energy company to resurface the road after completing its work.

“So that road is going to get revamped this fall as a result of the work that National Grid is doing,” he added.

National Grid did similar roadwork and repaving on Florida and Michigan streets.

LaCarrubba said that many city streets are slated for work when the roads are opened for working including gas, sewer and water line repairs or replacements.

“Our priorities on what roads get done going forward are based on all of the openings in the streets,” he said. “That could potentially change from capital [budget] year to capital year, depending on the conditions we face on those roads.”

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