Surfboards Win Out

Surfboards will soon be underfoot on dry land in Manhattan Beach.

As part of a $591,000 Highland Avenue resurfacing project, the City Council last week approved an eight-foot diameter graphic logo to go in at four decorative crosswalks around the intersection of Highland and Rosecrans avenues in North Manhattan Beach.

The design features three side-by-side surfboards in sky blue and mustard hues, emblazoned with a banner bearing the city's name. The logo's designer, Bryan Coopersmith of Coopersmith Design, completed the work free of charge to the city.

Coopersmith said his services were enlisted by Bernadette George of Elegance Spa in North Manhattan Beach. The design's inspiration came from the existing surfing graphics on neighborhood street pole banners, he said, and "the general culture of the area."

"The overall design had to be clean and simple due to the limitations of the street printing process," he added.

The original logo design, approved by the Council last September, featured silhouettes of a cresting wave and sun encircling the Manhattan Beach pier. It was later deemed too similar to the Manhattan Beach 10K Run logo, said Steve Finton, city engineer. After a couple of returns to the drawing board, the advisory board for the North Manhattan Beach Business Improvement District came back before the Council in early February—this time with a trio of alternatives designed by Coopersmith.

The project, contracted to All American Asphalt, includes the grinding and overlaying of Highland Avenue from 15th Street to 45th Street, installation of decorative crosswalks at four intersections and construction of landscaped curb extensions at five locations. It has been delayed several times, waiting for completion of other city projects.

At its February 16 meeting, the City Council voted in favor of canceling additional decorative crosswalk installations that were planned from 15th Street to 33rd Street and from 40th Street to 45th Street. The move will save the city $138,000 in projected construction costs, Finton told councilmembers.

Other elements of the plan recommended for cancelation by the advisory board included the removal of a curb extension at the intersection of Highland Avenue and 34th Street. Finton told the Council that the board had decided the curb extension would affect the operation of an adjacent business. Council also approved staff's recommendation to remove all tree work from the project with Councilmember Portia Cohen indicating that an arborist may be hired in the future "to weigh in on the (removal of) trees."

The larger road resurfacing project along Highland Avenue must be completed within 60 days of its start date, said Finton. The pavement renovation will take three to four days, he added, during which time parking at nearby metered spaces along Highland Avenue will be prohibited.

Though Finton said crews will attempt to keep any burden on traffic flow to a minimum, lanes along Highland Avenue will need to be closed during construction. Two lanes of traffic will be maintained at all times during the project except during milling and paving operations south of Rosecrans Avenue.  During that work, northbound traffic will be maintained in the morning and southbound traffic maintained in the evening.

The other directions will be detoured around the project area on the paving day only.  Finton urged motorists to keep an eye out for signs on the roadway informing them of the upcoming project.

This story was updated at 5:10 p.m. February 25 to reflect factual corrections provided by City Engineer Steve Finton.