Now the last mile portion of Shoreline Drive provides the foundation for the Long Beach Grand Prix racetrack, the largest annual event in the city. That portion was de-engineered in the eighties with flyovers and off-ramps removed in exchange for new sidewalks and bike paths. Originally, the urban freeway configuration of Shoreline Drive extended another third of a mile to South Pine Avenue with a massive interchange at Queensway Bridge. Shoreline Drive take a distinctly more urban character as it is a concrete canyon served by on and off-ramps with overpasses connecting Ocean Boulevard to the Catalina Landing area to the south. Now this length of Shoreline Drive is flanked by almost a dozen crystalline office towers. In the fifties, the city considered replacing large portions of the area with surface parking and ship landings to sterilize the area before ultimately extending Shoreline Drive through it. The neighborhood was one of the closest civilian populations to the Navy installations on Terminal Island. The next half-mile length extended to the south and east, through the former Magnolia Beach area, also more colorfully known as the “Jungle”. The transportation project doubled as an urban renewal project typical across the nation after the Second World War as construction of the initial length was preceded by the obliteration of a dozen city blocks of homes, apartments, and businesses. The first 2/3 mile length of Shoreline Drive was developed at the northwest corner of Downtown, extending the I-710 Freeway into the commercial core of Long Beach, terminating at West Ocean Boulevard adjacent to the Los Angeles River. Historically once part of the Interstate 710 Freeway, the asset has been largely owned by the City of Long Beach since the nineties. Connecting the Interstate 710 Freeway via Shoemaker Bridge to Alamitos Avenue on the eastern edge of the Downtown, Shoreline Drive takes on many different characters, reflecting its various eras of expansion.

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