In yet another blow to downtown Manhattan Beach traffic and parking, vehicular traffic has been shut down on Center Place at Morningside Drive next to the now-shuttered Lot 3. 

Center Place is essentially an alley through which vehicles deliver goods to shops and restaurants in Downtown Manhattan Beach.

City spokesperson Alexandria Latragna told MB News that the alley was now closed to vehicles "for safety reasons."

Delivery parking, grease trap cleaning access, and trash collection has been modified due to the closure. The city is providing temporary commercial loading zones on Morningside Drive and Highland Avenue for deliveries to local businesses, replacing vehicle access through Center Place. 

Meanwhile, Center Place remains open to pedestrian traffic, and Right Tribe, the only shop facing out on Center Place, is still open and accessible by foot.

Monday's action to shut down Center Place was not related to the 4.4 magnitude earthquake that rattled the greater Los Angeles area on Monday, according to Latragna. "The decision to close had already been made," she said.

The nondescriptly named City Parking Lot 3 is located on Morningside Drive between 12th and Center Place. It was built in 1971, well before modern building codes that include crucial seismic safety measures.

Back in June, city engineers determined that the third level had significant structural issues and "degradation" and should be closed "out of an abundance of caution." 

Then in July, the city declared the lot "unsafe in its current condition" and fully closed all levels of Lot 3.

The city has created two alternate parking options to accommodate summer crowds: a free shuttle bus that runs from Pacific Elementary to downtown Manhattan Beach (available through August 18), and parking behind U.S. Bank during non-business hours.