City Gateways
About City Gateways
Gateways mark the major entrances into the city and welcome visitors, shoppers, and citizens to Monterey Park. The gateways provide the opportunity to announce that you are entering a special place. Gateways should have distinctive design features such as signs, graphics, landscaping, and accent lighting that clearly communicate the community's commitment to high quality design and development. Gateway treatments to be pursued at major entrances to the city include:
- North Atlantic Boulevard
- North Garfield Avenue
- New Avenue
- South Atlantic Boulevard
- South Garfield Avenue
Gateways preferably are located on a raised median island and/or in parkways on both sides of the street. Substantial sign monuments with graphics that reinforce city identity, accompanied by complementary landscape plantings and accent lighting, should welcome visitors and residents alike. Specimen trees, annual color, enhanced paving, and accent lighting can often be effectively incorporated into the gateway design.
North Atlantic Boulevard Gateway
Figure LU-5 (PDF) illustrates the North Atlantic Boulevard gateway concept, which includes enhancing the median and both parkways with a well landscaped corridor, creating a colorful, green entrance and passage through Monterey Park. The illustration depicts the opportunity to provide flowering trees, landscaping, and accent lighting in the existing expanded sidewalk area, and to provide a similar treatment on the west side of Atlantic Boulevard. Enhanced pavings within the crosswalks provide color and traffic calming as drivers pass over the textured paving.
North Garfield Avenue Gateway
Figure LU-6 (PDF) illustrates the North Garfield Avenue gateway concept. The median is enhanced with a flowering tree and accent lighting. Parkways are planted with an evergreen tree, forming a green corridor to Downtown and terminating at the South Garfield Gateway. The hardscape treatment is enhanced colored paving, similar to the North Atlantic Gateway.
New Avenue Gateway
Figure LU-7 (PDF) illustrates the New Avenue gateway concept. The above ground utility lines on east side of New Avenue limit the tree height. Selected parkway trees should be compatible with these utility lines. The trees illustrated have a mature height of 25 feet to 30 feet. The hardscape treatment is enhanced colored paving.
South Atlantic Boulevard Gateway
The South Atlantic Boulevard gateway provides an entrance to Monterey Park's largest commercial area and East Los Angeles Community College. This area can be enhanced with a similar treatment as the North Atlantic Gateway, with flowering trees in the parkway and enhanced paving at the gateway intersection.
South Garfield Avenue Gateway
The South Garfield Avenue gateway provides an entrance to Monterey Park's largest shopping center, as well as to the South Garfield / Pomona neighborhood commercial area. This area can be enhanced with an evergreen corridor by planting trees in intermittent clusters. Enhanced crosswalks with colored paving complete the gateway intersection.