PORT’S HARBOR BOULEVARD & PARK PLAZA IMPROVEMENTS NAMED ‘PROJECT OF THE YEAR’
BY AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS’ LA CHAPTER

SAN PEDRO, Calif. – September 17, 2018 – The Port of Los Angeles’s Harbor Boulevard and Plaza Park improvement project has been selected by the Metropolitan Los Angeles Branch (MLAB) of the American Society of Civil Engineers as Outstanding Roadway and Highway Project of the Year 2018. 

The Port’s Harbor Boulevard project involved realignment and reconfiguration of a three-street intersection at Harbor Boulevard, 7th Street and Miner Street in San Pedro, readying the busy LA Waterfront thoroughfare for the new San Pedro Public Market scheduled to open in 2020.  With new traffic signals, crosswalks and bike lanes among other enhancements, the reconfigured intersection also provides another point of connectivity to other LA Waterfront attractions like the World Cruise Center, Battleship IOWA and Los Angeles Maritime Museum.
 
“The Harbor Boulevard improvements have resulted in safer and more seamless traffic flow through the area, which is of particular importance as we gear up for the San Pedro Public Market,” said Tony Gioiello, the Port’s Deputy Director of Development. “This project has also greatly enhanced the aesthetics of the intersection, providing a new and welcoming commuter and pedestrian gateway to the LA Waterfront.”
 
Additional improvements were also made to the adjacent Plaza Park, which overlooks the Port’s Main Channel.  Enhancements included extensive slope re-grading, drought-tolerant landscaping, as well as a new lookout deck, decorative lighting and viewing benches. The park will also serve as a walkway linking downtown San Pedro and the future San Pedro Public Market.
 
Each year, the Metropolitan Los Angeles Branch of ASCE presents project and individual awards at its annual dinner, which took place last week. Awards are selected from nominations made by its member forums, technical groups, committees and individual members. Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. served as engineering consultants on the Harbor Boulevard and Park Plaza project.
 
About ASCE MLAB
 
Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) represents more than 145,000 members of the civil engineering profession worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. The Metropolitan Los Angeles Branch (MLAB) is dedicated to serving its more than 3,000 members locally. MLAB's membership is the largest is the country and its breadth of engineering experience is demonstrated in the many volunteers who give their time and efforts to the betterment of the profession and the society.
 
About the Port of LA
 
The Port of Los Angeles is America’s premier port and has a strong commitment to developing innovatively strategic and sustainable operations that benefit Southern California’s economy and quality of life. North America’s leading seaport by container volume and cargo value, the Port of Los Angeles facilitated $284 billion in trade during 2017. San Pedro Bay port complex operations and commerce facilitate one in nine jobs in the five-county Southern California region.