East-west Whittier Boulevard traverses two miles through the center of Montebello, connecting it to neighboring East Los Angeles and Pico Rivera. Freeways, shopping malls, economic decline, single-use zoning and damage from the 1971 earthquake sapped the vitality from the corridor and its downtown portion. FTB was selected to prepare a Specific Plan and subsequent streetscape improvement project. Through a public workshop process, the Plan envisioned the revitalization of Whittier Boulevard through policy changes and design improvements that define and support mixed-use residential and downtown segments along the corridor and restore it as a vital heart of the City.

Before

Whittier Boulevard was an unattractive, auto-oriented “strip” corridor struggling with disinvestment, yet its downtown segment was the historical and physical heart of the city.

Assignment

• Prepare a Specific Plan to enable mixed-use, improve design controls, and define capital improvements to attract new investment.
• Design streetscape improvements to support  the Plan’s proposed land uses and corridor character.  Reconfigure two city parking lots to enable their use as special events plazas.
• Prepare “First Phase” construction documents.

Outcomes

• Awarded a 2007 "Project of the Year Award" in the category of Streets and Transportation with a population of 50,000-100,000 by the American Public Works Association, Southern California Chapter.
• The Administrative Draft Specific Plan is under review by the City
• Downtown streetscape improvements completed in October 2006. 

 

In collaboration with:

Conley Consulting Group, AAE, Inc., SFE/Landscape Architects, Rempel Architects, Dream Engineering,