Politics & Government

Letter to the Editor: Changes to Monterey Road

The City will soon commence the design of the Monterey Road street improvement project and make sidewalks ADA complaint.

“Opportunity for Public Input Monterey Road Street Improvement,” was the title of a public meeting held by the Public Works Department on July 13 in the .

There was a small turnout: around 15 residents plus Councilmember Schneider and Mayor Mike Ten.

In 1972, the city widened Monterey Road from Fair Oaks Avenue to Pasadena Avenue by narrowing the sidewalk. Some footage from property lines was obtained under eminent domain, said the Public Works Interim Director Shin Furukawa.

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The residents were informed that the City will soon commence the design of the Monterey Road street improvement project. Currently, the sidewalks are not American Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant. In order to be complaint, sidewalks have to be a minimum of 4 feet wide. The sidewalks now are 4 feet wide but have obstructions such as lamp posts, vents and traffic signals. There are a total of 67 obstructions.

Three design options were presented:

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1. Relocate the interfering utilities closer to the properties (within public right-of-way). A ballpark figure would be $500,000.

2. Construct curb flare-outs around each interfering utility. Today’s dollars estimate is $4800 each obstruction. A con to this is bicyclist safety and loss of parking.

3. Narrow the roadway by widening the sidewalk for the entire length. A general ballpark figure would be $900,000. The down side is this reduces parking or parking lanes.

A resident suggested narrowing the street to two lanes. The example is the east side of Monterey Road from Fair Oaks Avenue. Make it beautiful. He said some traffic would naturally divert and people would rethink using the road.

The director asked for additional suggestions and explained that this process is just beginning. No conclusions or decisions will be made at this time.

This e-mail address was provided for feedback: pwfeedback@ci.south-pasadena.ca.us 

From: Waynna Kato,

Editor's Note: The original article provided an incorrect e-mail address for feedback and spelled Shin Furukawa's name inaccurately. Patch regrets the errors. 


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