City’s Pedestrian Action Plan Shifts Gears, Turns From One Citywide Standard to Focus On Specific Corridor Needs

The Pasadena Department of Transportation will provide an update about the City’s Pedestrian Action Plan to the City Council’s Municipal Services Committee which meets Tuesday, Oct. 25.

Compared to a previous draft presented before the Transportation Advisory Commission (TAC) in September, a new plan that’s still being finetuned will now focus on specific corridors that need to be improved, instead of setting a citywide standard, a report by the Department of Transportation said.

During the TAC meeting, commission members offered input and comments on the draft plan generally seeking more information on how each of the selected corridors were prioritized, as well as more clarity on the implementation timelines.

The Transportation Department said these concerns and comments need to be addressed and clarified before the final draft is presented to the City Council, and is seeking an allowance of six months before a revised draft is submitted to the Municipal Services Committee.

For the community’s information, the current draft is published on the City’s website, specifically on the Pasadena Walks! page at www.cityofpasadena.net/transportation/transportation-improvements/pasadena-pedestrian-plan-2021/.

Pasadena Walks! is name of the effort to develop the Pedestrian Action Plan under a grant that the Department of Transportation received from the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). The overarching goals of the plan are to make walking in Pasadena safer, more comfortable, convenient and accessible for pedestrians of all ages and abilities. The more specific goals are to improve conditions for people walking, improve connections to surrounding destinations, increase the percentage of walking trips, and reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) as well as the environmental impacts of driving.

Using these factors, the Transportation Department first determined 25 corridors across Pasadena as a priority for improvement. To focus improvements further, 10 opportunity corridors were identified: these are Fair Oaks Avenue (from north City limit to south City limit), Washington Blvd. (from Lincoln Ave. to Lake Ave.), Los Robles Ave. (from north City limit to Walnut Street), Allen Avenue (from north City limit to Colorado Blvd.), Lake Ave. (from north City limit to Colorado Blvd.), Raymond Ave. (from Colorado Blvd. to E. Glenarm Street), Del Mar Blvd. (from Pasadena Ave. to east City limit), Lincoln Ave. (from north City limit to Washington Blvd.), Foothill Blvd. (from Walnut Street to east City limit), and San Gabriel Blvd. (from Maple Street to California Blvd.).

As far as improvements are concerned, some of the planned pedestrian safety improvements on these priority corridors include high-visibility crosswalks, new or modified curb ramps, detectable warning surfaces, pedestrian refuge islands, curb extensions, raised intersections and crossings, right-turn lane redesign, leading pedestrian interval (LPI) and accessible pedestrian signals (APS), rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFB) and pedestrian-scale lighting.

Tuesday’s meeting of the Municipal Services Committee begins at 4 p.m. and can be accessed through http://pasadena.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=9 and www.pasadenamedia.org.

Live public comment is allowed although speakers are advised to submit a speaker card through www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/public-comment.