Guest Opinion | Ken Perry: We Need to Address Our Bad Traffic Situation With Common Sense Solutions

It’s no secret that traffic in Pasadena keeps getting worse. Pre-COVID, streets that are major corridors – like California, Colorado, Fair Oaks, Lake, Rosemead and Foothill – were jammed much of the day and at gridlock during morning and evening rush hours. With each development, the situation keeps getting worse. 

Given this situation, it is almost inconceivable the City’s Transportation Department keeps coming up with traffic studies for development that don’t trigger mitigations designed to help traffic flow more smoothly. We need to reform the Outside of CEQA mitigation process so that it helps us reduce traffic congestion and provides for safer streets.

A private outside traffic study – funded by concerned residents – showed that Pasadena’s traffic studies were not addressing intersection turns that are obviously failing or adequately providing for mitigation on streets that are already over capacity. Pasadena’s DOT has not addressed these issues and needs to do so. The department should work for the residents of Pasadena, and we shouldn’t have to fund outside studies to get solutions that work for Pasadenans.

 Developers bringing in thousands of new residents, new automobiles and new trips into Pasadena’s most congested areas should be held responsible for adding measures that make traffic flow better. Their projects are adding to our already bad traffic situation. They should not be exempt from trying to make our situation better.

 DOT should fix its processes and reports so that development triggers important Outside of CEQA mitigations. It is important that we grow in a way that doesn’t just create traffic gridlock – and unhealthy living.

Solutions presented by the DOT in its latest presentation – like traffic circles and cement blockades on busy streets – will only make gridlock worse on main corridors and send traffic into neighboring residential streets.

Traffic congestion contributes further to the decline in 

Pasadena’s quality of life. It negatively impacts all Pasadenans – no matter who we are or where we live.

We need to start addressing it with common sense solutions. Engaging developers to mitigate for traffic flow impacts on crowded Pasadena streets made even worse by their developments is one of those solutions.

Ken Perry is a Pasadena resident