Freeway's Demise Will Fund Light Rail Grade Crossing Improvements in Pasadena

Steve Scauzillo reports that pedestrians and motorists could have an easier time crossing the tracks of the Metro Gold Line in Pasadena.

"A dual underpass-overpass concept at California Boulevard, between Arroyo Seco Boulevard and Raymond Avenue, was green-lighted by a committee of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) earlier this month," reports Scauzillo. "A preliminary design calls for raising the train tracks about 12 feet, while lowering California Boulevard 9 feet."

The Metro board is expected to vote on $105 million in funding fore the project in early December. It's ironic, according to Scauzillo, that funding will come from a pot of money originally included in Measure R to extend the 710 freeway. That project is now fully dead.

According to Scauzillo, the debate over how the light rail line should cross Del Mar Boulevard, California Boulevard, and Glenarm Street has raged in Pasadena since before it opened in 2003. The resulting configuration was the result of a compromise.