By the year 2025, the Port of Los Angeles will have spent $1 billion on new open space and community amenities along its waterfront. Now, it's time to figure out how to knit it all together.

This week, landscape architecture firm SWA announced that it has been hired by the Port to create a new plan for public access in the San Pedro area. The effort will encompass new and improved pedestrian and vehicular routes, transit, crosswalks, wayfinding signage, open space, and active programming.

Waterfront at the Port of Los AngelesSWA Group

“The San Pedro Waterfront is on its way to becoming a truly world-class destination, and we believe that much of it depends on connectivity. It will be transformative to enhance accessibility for locals and visitors alike, to create an easily navigable multi-modal waterfront,” said SWA co-chief executive officer Gerdo Aquino in a news release. “The plan is an exciting next step for the Port of Los Angeles, the City of Los Angeles, and the community of San Pedro in strengthening the identity and accessibility of the LA Waterfront and aiding its evolution over the next 50 years.”

The project area spans 460 acres, and includes roughly eight miles of waterfront. That space includes existing roads and paths, undeveloped parcels, and major destinations such as the World Cruise Terminal, the historic Ferry Building, and the Cabrillo Marina Aquarium.

Port of Los AngelesSWA Group

Likewise, the project follows just months after the official start of construction on the West Harbor, a more than $150-million project which will transform the former Ports O' Call Village with new shops, restaurants, and a a 6,200-seat amphitheater. Likewise, new developments are bringing thousands of new apartments to sites on and around the waterfront.

SWA has previously worked on waterfront projects in Santa Monica and Redondo Beach.

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