East Eaton Wash Neighborhood Association
2010 Newsletter
No. 5 News from East Eaton Wash Neighborhood Association February 22, 2010
Voting time again!
Please vote in our Association’s annual election of officers at our Saturday March 13 meeting at Hastings Branch Library from 11:15 am to 12:45 pm.
Officer positions are:
President – chair meetings; officially represent the association to external parties
Vice President – support and act in place of President or Secretary as needed
Secretary – publicize meetings; record and distribute meeting minutes; maintain contact list.
Treasurer – receive, keep safe, track, report on, and disburse Association funds. (So far the Association has never had any funds.)
Nominations for willing candidates may be made via e-mail [email protected] or phone 626 792-2927 by March 10. Please provide the name, address, and a contact phone number for the candidate.
The “Neighborhood Association”
Anyone age 18 and above who lives within its boundaries is automatically a member of East Eaton Wash Neighborhood Association. The boundaries are from Foothill Blvd. north to the south side of Orange Grove Blvd, and from Eaton Wash east to Sierra Madre Villa Ave. There are no dues.
The Neighborhood Association mission is to help improve the quality of life in our neighborhood. It does this by:
- helping us get to know and communicate with each other,
- keeping us informed of local developments and issues affecting the neighborhood,
- helping us work together to safeguard and improve our neighborhood,
- providing an avenue for organized feedback and input to the city.
Meetings: Second Saturday of each month at 11:15 am at Hastings Branch Library.
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: https://eewna.org
PWP Contractor Construction Trucks
During the past year the situation with traffic through our neighborhood to and from the Pasadena Water and Power area just west of the Edison power lines and north of the power substation became much worse. For a couple years the residents of Alameda and Avocado had put up with the area being used as a “show up yard” for an electrical contractor working on PWP projects throughout the city, resulting in huge utility trucks coming and going, speeding employee private vehicles, and lots of dust, diesel fumes, and noise. Then last spring came the addition of another contractor running many huge dump trucks coming and going all day from early morning to evening. In addition to the traffic, they were dumping debris and sorting it before reloading it and taking it away. After complaints from neighbors on Alameda, PWP directed that traffic be dispersed to more streets so as to lesson the burden on Alameda. This of course just got the negative attention of more neighbors. After several diligent neighbors made many phone calls and wrote many letters to various city entities, contacts were made which got results. The dump truck contractor was required to take their activity elsewhere and has been gone since November. The electrical contractor should be gone in about three months. Then the site is supposed to be back to use only by Pasadena Water and Power employees.
Foothill to Kinneloa and Walnut
Just after New Years the signal on Foothill at Santa Paula disappeared for a couple of weeks. The removal was a mistake. The signal will now remain in place.
The city is estimating that the project to extend Kinneloa under the freeway to Foothill by way of Titley Ave will be finished by late April. The historic Titley name will disappear as the entire road will be named Kinneloa. The road will be two lanes, with parking on each side (except under the bridge), sidewalks, lighting, and street trees. A new signal will be installed on Foothill at Kinneloa (formerly Titley). The signal will be coordinated with the signal at Santa Paula.
Also as part of this project, Walnut will be extended from Sunnyslope to Kinneloa. To the west Walnut is being widened using the old railroad right of way and completed with curbs, sidewalks, street trees. There will be signals added on Walnut at Kinneloa, Daisy, and Altadena. Walnut at Altadena will become a full 4-way intersection. Walnut at Craig will be reduced from a 4-way to a 2-way stop.
Neighborhood Traffic
At a recent meeting, neighborhood residents complained about the traffic problems resulting from the Foothill at Sierra Madre Villa intersection, including traffic through our neighborhood by motorists avoiding the intersection, and a concern that the Kinneloa cut-through might make it worse rather then better.
City engineers acknowledged the issues. For purposes of comparison, they promised to do a traffic count of current traffic before the Kinneloa cut-through becomes operational. Then, after new traffic flows have settled in, to conduct a neighborhood wide study of traffic patterns and potential solutions. Such a study is preferable to each individual block that manages to organize itself getting traffic controls without regard to the effect on neighboring streets.
Also discussed were:
- The dramatic increase in traffic caused by Nordstrom’s Rack.
- The signal planned at Sierra Madre Villa at Electronic. City staff has been waiting for development fees from the Cogent (formerly Allstate) property to pay for it, but no such development is in process currently.
- Additional turn lanes planned at Sierra Madre Villa and Foothill. These projects are awaiting fees from the now indefinitely postponed condo development on the southeast corner.
Alameda Speed Humps
A fed up neighbor on Alameda Street contacted and worked with Pasadena’s traffic department to obtain speed humps. As a result, the city conducted a mail-in vote of Alameda’s residents. After much followup effort by the proponent, enough favorable votes were cast. The latest word is that humps should be installed on Alameda in the April to May timeframe. It is not known where on Alameda they will be positioned.
Park Pedestrian Path
The new pedestrian path between our neighborhood and Viña Vieja Park opened last Fall on Avocado Ave at Las Lunas St. This is to be the permanent path until, possibly, some years in the future the Edison power lines are raised higher.
Ice Rinks Project
The city’s Ice Rink project is dead, at least until the economy improves. The project was planned for the area between Eaton Wash and the Edison lines, south of the dog park and north of the water well/PCC parking lot. In spite of redesigns to reduce construction costs and different proposals for management and financing, the City Council was not able to agree on a way to move forward.