SWA Group has announced plans to transform parts of America’s biggest container port, the Port of Los Angeles (POLA), in a project aimed at increasing connectivity in the public access realm.

“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,” SWA’s Co-CEO Gerdo Aquino explained in a statement. “It will be transformative to enhance accessibility for locals and visitors alike, to create an easily navigable multi-modal waterfront.”

In the hopes of “aiding its evolution over the next 50 years,” Aquino’s team of engineers and other project consultants will work to activate the waterfront area while compiling a comprehensive mobility strategy that links different nodes along eight miles of potentially accessible waterfront edges and a 460-acre swath of land. 

The scope of the project will incorporate cruise terminals, the historic San Pedro Ferry Building, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, and the forthcoming West Harbor dining and entertainment center. SWA will leverage its extensive expertise in the planning and design of waterfront spaces across the country (including recent projects in New York City, Santa Monica, nearby Redondo Beach, and Houston) and says they are looking forward to rejuvenating the area “engaging, accessible, fun, safe, active, and connected.”

“The past decade has witnessed a major transformation of the LA Waterfront from an industrial and trading behemoth to a place full of vibrant destinations, public plazas, memorials, a trolley car, and open space parks. Yet the 'in-between spaces' — the places where people want to walk and ride bicycles — remain undefined and disconnected,” Aquino added finally. “This effort aims to change that in dramatic and exciting ways.”