South Pasadena received $16 million in federal funding in 2021 and 2022 to redesign the Huntington Drive and Fremont Avenue corridors. The project is on a tight timeline, with construction scheduled to begin this fall. And yet, after attending the February 23rd public meeting, I left with more questions than answers — and serious concerns about how this project is being managed.
The meeting itself was telling. There was no open Q&A. Attendees wrote questions on index cards in a noisy room while project staff circulated in a back-of-room “open house” format. This may be standard practice, but it is not genuine community engagement. When neighbors cannot hear each other’s concerns, the city loses something valuable — and so do we.
I was also troubled to learn that Toole Design, the multimodal transportation firm that led a well-received community charrette in Fall 2023, has been replaced by Kimley-Horn, a firm with a portfolio more focused on conventional roadway engineering. What happened to the input gathered at that charrette? Will it inform this process at all?
Other concerns: the online questionnaire initially omitted bicycles as a category (since corrected), but still offers no way to comment on overall project direction — only specific road and intersection details. The city does provide a dedicated email address for broader comments, but that is a poor substitute for a structured general comment opportunity within the questionnaire itself. Meanwhile, the public has been given no actual cost estimates for the design alternatives being considered.
This project has real potential to improve two of South Pasadena’s most important corridors for all who walk, bike, and drive through them. But that potential depends on an open, informed public process — not a compressed timeline driven by budget constraints and consultants chosen without public explanation.
I urge the Council to require open Q&A at future meetings, post recordings of all outreach sessions online, release the Toole Design findings, and provide real cost estimates. Residents deserve to weigh in on the full picture before decisions are locked in.
Barbara Eisenstein is a South Pasadena resident.
