Construction crews will begin marking excavation spots and bringing equipment into the neighborhood just east of Colorado Lagoon and along Colorado Street as Long Beach pepares to replace natural gas lines in the area.
The work — for which the Long Beach Energy Resources Department, commonly called the the gas department — will make way for the next phase of connecting Colorado Lagoon and Marine Stadium with an open channel through Marina Vista Park — while replacing aging lines at the same time.
Construction crews will begin preparing for the work on Monday, Aug. 9.
“The Energy Resources pipeline replacement project is being completed in anticipation of the Open Channel project,” Kevin Tougas, manager of oil operations, said in an email. “However, the pipelines were already scheduled for replacement in our capital improvement program.”
Colorado Street and Panama Avenue will see street closures for parts of the three-month construction project and there will be parking impacts as well, according to an email announcement from Councilwoman Suzie Price, whose Third District includes that area. The city sent out two notices to property owners, one to those on whose land work will occur and another to nearby residents who will be impacted by street closures and parking restrictions.
“By contractual agreement, all excavations are to be returned as close to their original condition as possible after the work is completed,” said the letter to residents whose properties are set for excavation. “Removed concrete may be temporarily patched with asphalt for safety for a short period of time until permanently repaired with concrete.”
Construction will include about six residential blocks east of the lagoon between East Fourth and Colorado streets, as well as a strip of land on both sides of Colorado Street from Panama to Nieto avenues. The new system will be a 12-inch pressurized main pipeline, which will connect to smaller pipes — “laterals” — leading to homes. The cost is about $500,000.
The city’s letter to property owners whose land is expected to be excavated also cautioned that they could lose gas service at times.
“As part of this project, gas service to your property may be temporarily interrupted,” the letter said. “LBER Gas Services Bureau personnel will re-install your gas meter and perform a gas line safety check of your residence/business prior to relighting your appliances, at no charge.”
But the goal, Price’s email said, is to avoid interrupting gas service. She also said that most of the digging would take place in the public right of way.
The project’s work hours will be from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days a week.
A project supervisor is available to answer questions and deal with any complaints. The telephone number is 562-570-2085.
