Lakewood
News
Community 30,000 delivered to Lakewood and portions of Long Beach
Official publication of the Greater Lakewood Chamber of Commerce
Volume 29 Number 4
www.lakewoodnews.org / www.lakewoodchamber.com
Lakewood reaches 100% street repaving goal!!!
Lakewood City Council Members on one of the final streets that was repaved as the city reached its street improvement milestone.
Construction crews have now completed a project to repave three and a half miles of Lakewood residential streets, largely near Lakewood High School and the Ponderosa Tract of homes (near Clark Avenue and Allington Street). On its own, it
was a modest-sized project, but it completed a major goal for the city of repaving all 143 miles of Lakewood’s residential streets over the past 12 years. Repaving an entire community is very expensive if done all at once, but in 2000, the Lakewood
City Council decided to move ahead on a long-term plan to make steady progress every year and make creative use of a variety of funding sources. The city was strategic about using federal and state transportation funds for its major
thoroughfares and then saving its general fund dollars and its share of Measure R sales tax funds just for residential streets. Another strategic move was sticking with the use of ‘rubberized’ asphalt. It’s a bit more expensive up front, but it’s quieter for drivers and neighborhoods and lasts much longer than regular asphalt. Lakewood’s newly paved roads should now last close to 25 years on average. Rubberized asphalt is also environmentally friendly, utilizing old tires that would otherwise have to go to landfills. Over the 12 years of Lakewood’s repaving program, the city has spent $28 million, paved 143 miles of residential streets with 227,000 tons of asphalt, and used 615,000 recycled, old tires. The city has also replaced 50 miles of sidewalk and 55 miles of curbs and gutters. What’s the future hold for repaving in Lakewood? The city will still need to periodically repave its major boulevards and do localized spot repairs. But Lakewood’s residential streets now have a solid base of rubberized asphalt that will last up to 25 years without repaving.
April 2013
Spring After Hours Mixer!
Buffalo Wild Wings Thursday, April 11th 5:30-7:00pm 4678 Daneland St. Lakewood Center (Next to Target)
COST AT THE DOOR:
Members - $5 NonMembers - $10 This is a great opportunity to mix ‘n mingle with other business owners and city officials. Don’t forget to bring plenty of business cards! For more info, call 562.531.9733
Trashing your toxic debris the RIGHT WAY just got a lot easier
EDCO’s large, new complex in Signal Hill takes hazardous waste & e-waste once a month. Keeping toxics out of the trash and from oozing into storm drains and the ocean is everyone’s responsibility. Doing it just got Lakewood Community News #24 Lakewood Center Mall Lakewood, CA 90712 (562) 531-9733
lots easier. Lakewood residents can now drop off their toxic debris once a month at the EDCO Recycling PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Santa Fe Spgs, CA PERMIT NO. 29
& Transfer Station in nearby Signal Hill, at 2755 California Avenue. Just 10-15 minutes from the Lakewood Civic Center, it is open every second Saturday of the month to accept household hazardous waste, sharps and e-waste. “This is a huge convenience for residents. Instead of waiting for a regional hazardous waste roundup, they can now plan to make an environmentally friendly drop-off near home,” says Lakewood Public Works Director, Lisa Rapp. Along with being an option for hazardous waste, the new 68,000 square foot facility is a traditional dump transfer station and takes large and oversized amounts of brick, used lumber and other material that can’t be put in residential trash carts, recycling carts or green waste cans. Dump fees are charged at the facility. “This is a good local resource for anyone doing home projects, yard makeovers or garage clean ups who has an extra amount of waste to get rid of,” says Rapp. “Now we have a convenient facility (Cont’d on Page 5)
One of the most valuable tools the Sheriff’s Department has to keep Lakewood safe is the eyes and ears of Lakewood residents looking out for their neighborhood. If you see unusual activity in your neighborhood, call the Sheriff’s Station. Their business line, which is perfect for reporting unusual activity, is staffed 24 hours a day at 562-623-3500. And, if it’s a crime in progress, always call 9-1-1. Maybe it’s a business solicitor going door to door. (Sometimes those turn out to be knock-knock burglars who find unoccupied homes and then go around back to try to break in.) Maybe it’s people who appear to be utility workers with vests or hard hats, but without official vehicles or ID. (They, too, may end up going around the back of a house, or sneaking past the front door while the owner walks into the back yard with another “worker.”) Maybe it’s just something in your neighborhood that is unusual and has you worried. Lakewood Sheriff’s Captain Merrill Ladenheim urges residents to give the Sheriff’s Department a call and they’ll send a Deputy to see what’s happening. If you see something, say something. Keep Lakewood and your neighborhood safe!