Street Name Change OKd

The city of Hawthorne has joined with Lawndale and Gardena in changing the name of Compton Boulevard to Marine Avenue.

The decision Monday by the Hawthorne City Council will affect two segments of the boulevard, from Yukon to Prairie avenues, and from the San Diego Freeway to Aviation Boulevard.

Hawthorne City Manager R. Kenneth Jue said Tuesday that members of the South Bay Cities Assn. decided to change the name to make it “more symbolic of the South Bay cities.”

Manhattan Beach has called the street Marine Avenue since the early 1900s.

Lawndale has already posted some Marine Avenue signs. Hawthorne plans to do so in the near future, and Gardena has set a target date of Nov. 1.

Motorists may experience some confusion on Compton/Marine between Inglewood Avenue and Aviation Boulevard. On the north side, in Lawndale and Hawthorne, it will be called Marine, and on the south side, in Redondo Beach, it will still be known as Compton Boulevard.

The Redondo Beach City Council thus far has shown no interest in the matter. “We haven’t seen . . . any compelling reason to change the street name,” Cidy Manager Tim Casey said Tuesday. But now that the name will be Marine to the east, west and north of Redondo’s borders, the city too may have to consider the change, he said.