Pasadena’s outdoor dining program for restaurants beleaguered by pandemic restrictions has proven to be successful and resilient and is edging closer to becoming “more permanent.”
The city implemented the first phase of its outdoor dining program on July 11, 2020 along Colorado Boulevard in the Playhouse Village and Old Pasadena area to help restaurants, after the state forced thousands of businesses to halt nearly all indoor operations.
Monday, the City Council is set to consider a request by city staff to go ahead and buy $294,244 worth of anti-vehicle barriers and haulers for the city’s outdoor dining program. The barriers have been rented until now.
“We are nearing the end of the identified budget for the rental period and based on staff research and what seems to be a more permanent on-street dining program, we are now at the point where renting no longer makes sense and are recommending purchasing,” says a City staff report.
Specifically, the city wants to buy 32 anti-vehicle barriers and 2 haulers from the Meridian Rapid Defense Group for an additional layer of protection for on-street dining areas.
The city report noted that the Pasadena Police Department approved the use of Meridian Archers, which are designed to withstand head-on impacts from a vehicle.
In the event that outdoor dining is phased out, the report suggested the Meridian Archers can be used to supplement the barriers that will be rented for other events such as the Rose Parade, according to the report.
The Council decided last February 8 to purchase concrete K-rail and TL2 sleds for its outdoor dining program as it similarly determined it is in the best interest of the city to purchase these equipment instead of renting them.
Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.
Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.
2 thoughts on “City Council Asked to to Consider Buying Anti-Vehicle Barriers for “More Permanent” Outdoor Dining Program”
This is an awful idea. The expansion of outdoor dining has made traffic on Colorado another side streets worse than it already was. Sidewalks are getting clogged up with tables and crowds waiting to be seated. Servers are moving back-and-forth between outside dining and the restaurants without looking where they’re going. If outside dining becomes permanent in Pasadena, my husband and I are 100% moving.
The city really wants to help business in Pasadena they should reinstate the 90 minute free parking at their garages that they did away with last week