Updated designs to transform Rosemead Boulevard, Temple City
Rosemead Boulevard project's updated design improvements unveiled
TEMPLE CITY -- Pasadena Star News
(October 19, 2011) --
Brenda Gazzar, Staff Writer
Updated designs to transform Rosemead Boulevard in the city from a regional highway into a pedestrian friendly corridor were unveiled at a community meeting earlier this month.
The proposed designs by Gruen Associates for the nearly $17 million project incorporated input from a public meeting held in March. The project's improvements call for separated bike lanes on much of the 2-mile route, new sidewalks where none exist now, 550 new trees and space for Temple City-themed public art.
"We're really looking at creating places, destinations," said Brian Haworth, assistant to the city manager. "It's creating destinations for biking, creating destinations to see public art ... creating gathering places."
Many of the proposed design components will give the public a distinct impression that they are in Temple City, he said.
About 60 percent of the 2-mile corridor will have 7-foot-wide protected bike lanes separated from vehicular traffic by a landscaped median, while the rest of the corridor will have regular striped bike lanes.
Community members indicated they felt it would be safer and more cyclist-friendly to have these protected bike lanes on this major thoroughfare, said Kristi Twilley of Vanir Construction Management Inc., who is serving as the Rosemead Boulevard project manager.
"Based on that feedback, we made a pretty significant design change," she said.
Installing sidewalks and accessible ramps is the biggest practical and aesthetic change proposed by the project.
Many places along the boulevard lack sidewalks and instead have a worn path through the grass or dirt. As a result, people with strollers or in wheelchairs have difficulty navigating and sometimes find themselves on the street to get around, Twilley said.
"That's a very significant safety problem," she said.
All the sidewalks would be compatible with Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines and any cracked and broken sidewalks will also be repaired, she said.
The proposed design also calls for up to eight Camelia-themed monuments - between 14 feet and 25 feet high - on the route that would light up at night and create identifying landmarks for the city.
The monuments would be designed by Selbert Perkins, who also designed the LAX gateway monuments, and are estimated to cost between $55,000 and $90,000 each depending on height.
At least 15 seating nodes - including benches, landscaping and wallseats - would be installed as well as up to 16 bus shelters, she said.
The project would also create between 20 and 30 small spaces for public art. Two to three pieces of public art could be incorporated into the project's base design "so people can start to see the potential in the (city's public) art program," Twilley said.
The city's public art advisory committee will soon solicit ideas on what kinds of public art the community would like to see along the corridor, Haworth said.
The project is being funded by 14 different sources so far. Only about $386,000 of the estimated $16.75 million needed for the project would be city funds - and that amount was offered by Caltrans when it relinquished control of the highway to the city, she said.
The updated designs are expected to be posted on the city's website by the end of the week. The public can provide input on these designs by emailing bhaworth@templecity.us
brenda.gazzar@sgvn.com
626-578-6300, ext. 4496
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