Westside's heartbreak Boulevard.

AFTER decades of debate and delay, West L.A. businesses and residents are now bracing for a massive two-and-a-half-year reconstruction of Santa Monica Boulevard through Westwood and Century City.

Beginning in January, the 2.5-mile, $68.5 million project will transform the much-maligned "Big" and "Little" Santa Monica Boulevards between the San Diego (405) Freeway and the Beverly Hills city line into a single roadway with three lanes in each direction and a landscaped median.

This fall, L.A. city officials are expected to select a contractor; work is expected to begin shortly after New Year's Day and continue through July 2005. The federal government and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority are providing the bulk of the funding, with the state, L.A. County and the City of Los Angeles also kicking in dollars.

While nearly everyone agrees that the project is necessary and the end-result will be a significant improvement in both the traffic flow and appearance of the corridor, the lengthy construction period -- 30 months along much of the boulevard -- has many local businesses concerned for their survival. They fear a dramatic drop in customers as motorists are either unable to access their stores or avoid the area altogether.

"I just learned about this a few days ago and I'm very, very upset," said Ali Rostami, president and co-owner of Planet Rugs Inc., located on Santa Monica Boulevard one block east of Westwood Boulevard. "When that construction don begins, I don't think we'll be able to keep the business open. We're probably going to have to move."

L.A. city officials, who will manage the project, say they are taking steps to minimize the impact on local businesses, including budgeting $500,000 for marketing and coaching businesses on how to apply for loans to tide them through the construction period. But even city officials admit it's going to be a rough three years.

"We're all going to suffer with this Santa Monica Boulevard project," City Councilman Jack Weiss told a group of concerned Westwood homeowners last month. "It's going to be extraordinarily disruptive for both the neighborhood and businesses. My office and the city will do whatever we can to minimize this disruption."

To that end, Mayor James Hahn's Business Team and the L.A. Economic Development Corp. are working to put a business assistance plan in place, according to Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Jonathan Kevles. The plan will not include direct city financial aid to businesses.

Ending the confusion

Public officials maintain that the project is long overdue. They say that the current layout of two parallel streets is confusing to motorists and a nightmare for those seeking to make left turns onto one of those streets.

"The way it is laid out now, it's a total anachronism," said L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who represents the area. "It doesn't function well and it's a real eyesore."

Indeed, Santa Monica Boulevard has been targeted for various makeovers ever since the Southern Pacific railway ceased operating down the median 30 years ago, leaving behind the unsightly tracks. In the late 1970s, there was a proposal to turn the street into a freeway all the way into Hollywood. The City of Beverly Hills stopped that effort.

Then, in the mid-1980s, a new proposal surfaced to widen the boulevard to as many as six lanes in each direction; residents objected to the huge increase in traffic volumes such a widening would bring and that effort died.

The current plan, which was developed in the mid-1990s, keeps the same number of lanes that now exist; it just realigns them. "Big" Santa Monica Boulevard has two lanes in each direction and "Little" Santa Monica has one lane; the new road will have three lanes in each direction.

One difference will be the addition of access roads on each side of the main boulevard. These small roads mainly will be used for parking and local deliveries; to avoid becoming an alternative for through traffic, they will not be continuous.

In other respects, though, the project is similar to the just-completed $34 million makeover of a 2.5-mile stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard through West Hollywood.

And that's precisely why business owners are worried. While the new street in West Hollywood looks and flows better, virtually every business along the stretch suffered sharp drops in revenues during the two-year construction. Some businesses didn't make it, though nobody knows just exactly how many folded since the city didn't track the closures.

"We're scared to death that what happened in West Hollywood is going to happen here," said Jay Handal, president of the West Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. "What's even more disconcerting is that even now, almost a full year after that street was done in West Hollywood, business has yet to return to pre-construction levels. People simply found other places to shop and dine."

Problems may remain

City officials note that the plan calls for the addition of two or three temporary lanes in each direction in the wide median so that traffic can flow relatively smoothly during construction. And construction is supposed to take place in phases.

But a closer look at a preliminary schedule shows that the 1.5-mile stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard from Sepulveda Boulevard to Beverly Glen Boulevard will have some sort of construction taking place for the project's 30-month duration. Only the extreme west and east ends will have significant stretches of time with no work being done.

Final construction schedules won't be drawn up until this fall, after the contractor is selected.

Whatever the final schedule, the concern among business owners is most pronounced in the western half, from the San Diego (405) Freeway to Beverly Glen Boulevard. That stretch is dominated by small businesses with storefronts facing the boulevard.

"We're very concerned," said Teri Lopez, an employee at Living Art Aquatic Design Inc., a custom aquarium shop near the corner of Santa Monica and Westwood boulevards. "Just look at all those cars backing up in front of our store, getting a good look at displays. I can't tell you how many times one of those drivers has come back to visit and then buy from us. If we lose that traffic, it's going to be very difficult for us."

Concerns about the construction are not limited to businesses. Local residents have expressed fears that their now-quiet streets will become congested with frustrated motorists seeking alternatives to the clogged boulevard.

City officials say the temporary lancs in the median should be able to handle most of the traffic the boulevard currently has. Also, city officials say they will work with the contractor to publicize alternate routes -- such as Wilshire and Olympic boulevards.

Residents have also objected to the prospect of noisy construction at night; as a result, much of the work will be done between morning and evening rush hours.

Fewer problems eastward

The concern about construction is not as great along the eastern stretch through Century City. Most of the office towers along Little Santa Monica Boulevard were designed with multiple entrances. When the construction arrives there, building managers say they will shift employees and visitors to entrances on other streets.

Likewise, the direct construction impact on the popular Century City Shopping Center is expected to be minimal. While the main entrance is on Little Santa Monica, other entrances on Century Park West and Constellation Boulevard are heavily used.

Some have expressed concern about the transition back to two parallel roads at the Beverly Hills city line. They note that traffic heading west on Little Santa Monica out of Beverly Hills will have to cross through east-bound traffic to transfer to the westbound lanes on the newly reconfigured street in Los Angeles.

But a traffic consultant who once worked on the project said these concerns may be overblown. "That transition will not be complicated; all you need is a traffic signal to allow the cars to make the transition," said Michael Meyer, a principal with Meyer, Mohaddes Associates Inc.