Residents, business owners urge fixes to Montebello Boulevard overhaul, cite safety and lost customers

Several Montebello residents and business owners used the public‑comment period at the April 8 City Council meeting to press for changes to recent streetwork on Montebello Boulevard, saying design changes and no‑parking paint have contributed to crashes, unsafe turns and lost customers.

Lisa Lozano, a District 1 resident, described repeated near‑misses at “the left‑turn lane before Montebello Boulevard and Paramount,” saying drivers sometimes turn prematurely into oncoming lanes and then reverse, creating a risk of head‑on collisions. Lozano asked the city to study geometric changes or additional signage, such as do‑not‑enter warnings, to prevent mistaken entries into the lane.

Business owners said the red‑painted curb and a narrowed median removed customer parking and made access difficult. Denise Agopian, who distributed a map of suggested fixes, told the council she and neighboring businesses had compiled six remedies she believes would reduce collisions and restore parking, including trimming curb geometry to reduce confusion, adding a U‑turn sign where appropriate, and reinstating several parking spaces that were lost during the project. “My Easter business was down almost 75%,” Agopian said.

Saris Sahakan, who owns a restaurant at 528 North Montebello Boulevard, said the median in front of his store is “so small” that it has been involved in multiple crashes captured on surveillance video: “We have that on a recording,” he said, and added that red‑painted no‑parking areas removed customer spaces needed by small businesses.

Other speakers urged faster maintenance and attention to streetlights and signage. A resident who described earlier bridge repairs on Whittier Boulevard said some repairs took years to complete and criticized continuing outages of decorative and intersection lighting; another commenter recommended clearer enforcement for repeat parking offenders who store dozens of vehicles on neighborhood streets.

Council members did not take formal action during the meeting on the Montebello Boulevard complaints. Several speakers asked staff and elected officials to review the project, respond to the business community’s map and proposals, and return with concrete remedies or a timeline. The council did ask staff to consider items raised during public comment in follow‑up reports when available.

The public‑comment period did not produce formal motions or votes on the streetwork; council members and staff encouraged petitioners to submit plans and documentation to the city for study and said staff would follow up in subsequent reports or meetings.