By Mary O’KEEFE

Residents and business owners in the area of the La Crescenta Rehabilitation Project should have recently received a notice on their door informing them that construction is about to begin.

“Construction is expected to start in March. The exact date is to be determined once the construction schedule has been approved. The project webpage will be updated regularly to inform residents and businesses of construction activity,” stated Rustom Tavitian, Glendale City Civil Engineer II. 

The website can be found at https://tinyurl.com/2ec8fcex. As of Tuesday there were no updates. 

Tavitian added the construction schedule and phasing is to be determined. 

This project has been in the works for quite some time with the first community meeting held in 2022. One of the complaints during the outreach was that not many people appeared to have been informed about the community meetings. In a March 8, 2023 meeting, many who attended voiced their concerns including the addition of bike lanes. Several bike enthusiasts were in favor of the lanes but a few cyclists were concerned about the plan. 

At one point there were two alternatives to the project; in the end Alternative No. 1 was approved by the Glendale City Council.
La Crescenta Avenue is a busy street especially during the week. The project will have a lot of construction including sewer improvements, reconstruction of: curbs and gutters, alley aprons, driveways and sidewalks; pavement replacement and removal of a travel lane in each direction, the addition of a center two-way left turn lane and the installation of new, protected bicycle lanes and buffered bicycle lanes.

“Traffic will be impacted at localized areas where construction will take place. The contractor is required to implement an approved traffic control plan that will mitigate traffic congestion and to ensure one travel lane is available for emergency vehicles and residents. The contractor is required to provide a detour plan with appropriate signage and flaggers to guide commuters,” he added.

Tavitian added that he would share the detour plan with CVW when it becomes available.

Another issue will be parking along La Crescenta Avenue affecting several businesses and apartments along the avenue. 

“Parking will be affected at localized areas where construction will take place. The contractor is required to post ‘No Parking’ signs 30 hours in advance of work taking place to inform residents that they are not allowed to park in the construction area. The signs will provide information of the time, date and block of when parking isn’t allowed. Residents will be able to park in the area that is outside of posted time and date on the signs,” he said.

This will create issues as street parking is already extremely limited; however, Tavitian warned that if people violate the parking restrictions their vehicles will be subject to towing.  

CVW was informed that these notices will also be provided, which CVW will share with our readers.

CVW will continue to follow the City’s plan and construction notices.