UPS Proposal Headed for Rejection

A United Parcel Service proposal to build a 23.7-acre distribution center in El Segundo has succumbed to city concern that the facility would put too many cars on already-crowded streets and intersections in the industrial and office area bordering Sepulveda Boulevard.

The council unanimously authorized a resolution rejecting the 3-year-old proposal Tuesday, after new city traffic studies showed that the center would generate 4,174 vehicle trips during the business day. Morning and evening peak hours would account for more than 600 trips respectively, the study said. The report was based on traffic counts at three existing UPS facilities, including Gardena. The resolution is expected to be approved Aug. 7.

UPS experts had projected 2,652 daily vehicle trips at the El Segundo facility and peak hour counts in the low 400s.

Before the vote, officials of the firm reiterated its pledge to keep daily traffic below the 2,604 level, or pay fines for the excess. The city earlier set that amount as an acceptable traffic level for the facility, which was to have been built at Sepulveda and Hughes Way to serve the company’s growing South Bay and Westside business.

‘We’ll have to sit down and see what are our options,” David Shockley, a UPS official, said about the vote.

UPS in May angered city officials by raising the possibility of legal action if the project were disapproved.