By Mary O’KEEFE

On Tuesday, Sept. 14, the Glendale City Council approved a bid for the Pennsylvania Avenue Rehabilitation Project during the council meeting. The cost of the $2.8 million project will be split evenly with Los Angeles County since the west side of Pennsylvania Avenue is under Glendale jurisdiction and the east side of the avenue is part of unincorporated LA County/La Crescenta.

The scope of the work would run the length of Pennsylvania from Markridge Road to Montrose Avenue. The work will consist of construction of bulb-outs at the intersection of Pennsylvania and Orange avenues, installation of new striping, signing and pavement markings, new traffic signal installation and signal upgrades at the Foothill (210) Freeway on- and off-ramps and selective removal and repair of the sanitary sewer main.

The project is being funded by the Surface Transportation Program, a U.S. Dept. of Transportation block grant, as well as funding from Measure R, the state gas tax and sewer fund.

The City of Glendale held a community outreach meeting, mailed out 900 notifications to area residents and met with members of Glendale Unified School District because of the construction’s close proximity to Valley View Elementary School. Three weeks prior to construction beginning, Public Works will send letters to local residents, then one or two weeks prior to construction a contractor’s letter will be mailed out. Three days before the project begins there will be door hangers distributed to homes in the area.

The work is scheduled to take 75 days to complete and will begin in October and finish in February 2019.

When work is to be done near Valley View, construction will take place mostly on the weekends and at other times that will not intefere with pick-up and drop-off of children.

Councilmember Vrej Agajanian asked if there had been many traffic issues along Pennsylvania Avenue. One prominent incident stayed in the minds of many, including City Manager Yasmin Beers and Glendale Water and Power General Manager Steve Zurn. It was in 2003 when a Crescenta Valley High School girl was struck and killed as she crossed Pennsylvania at Altura Avenue. The driver was convicted of driving under the influence. There is now a signal light at that intersection.

Councilmember Ara Najarian asked if there could be some type of traffic calming implementation, like speed bumps, along Pennsylvania. Unfortunately that option is not possible due to the grade of the avenue and because it is used as a fire escape road; however, there could be special striping that would give the impression the road is narrow, which can act as a speed deterrent.

Najarian added, half joking, “The northern part of Glendale loves being associated with Glendale. I think we need to let them know they are always in our thoughts and in our Public Works project. We [would] love to have a sign that the improvements are being brought to them by the Glendale City Council along with our names.”

He made this comment apparently because of the controversy involving the Welcome to Glendale signs that were placed on Foothill Boulevard at Pennsylvania Avenue and Lowell Avenue. The sign at Lowell had reportedly been slammed into by cars on two separate occasions – not because of the drivers’ objections to the signs but due to an apparent lack of visibility.

It is not known if the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors would request a similar sign because it is paying for 50% of the cost of the project.

  Mary Okeefe