The Arroyo Link
The Arroyo Link
A safe, multi-use path for walking, biking, running, & scooting
The Arroyo Seco is the “jewel in the Crown City’s park system,” yet it’s difficult to access without a car.
The building of the 134, 210, and 710 freeways carved up and partially erased the path — and along with it, parks and historical sites — that people once traversed between Pasadena’s civic core and the Arroyo.
The Arroyo Link proposes to uncover and rejuvenate that 1.5-mile path so that we can fully access and enjoy the nature and recreation offered in the Arroyo and beyond, along the regional L.A. River corridor to downtown L.A. and Long Beach.
The Time Is Now
We’re in a time of re-examining our community roots, history, and values as they’ve evolved over the past 140+ years. The Link follows a route of culturally and historically significant sites like Carmelita Gardens, where a nexus of artists and thinkers inspired the young John Muir’s early ideas about nature conservation.
A number of conservation and recreation projects are under way to revitalize the Arroyo, but without the Link, our access to it — and ability to enjoy those investments and improvements — will remain limited and difficult. A walking and biking path will enhance local circulation now and looking forward:
- The Link will complement the Union Street Protected Bike Lane, which is currently being built and which will be a vital east-west corridor between Old Pasadena, PCC, and Caltech.
- With the Link, Metro L (Gold) Line riders will finally have a pleasant, convenient path from Memorial Station to the Arroyo’s amenities. This will also meet a key requirement for the Rose Bowl to host the 2028 Olympics soccer matches, which will bring tens of thousands of visitors into the area. Venues are required to offer multi-modal access for all events.
- As it crosses the 710 Freeway stub, the Link will offer an opportunity to mark the predominantly Black and Japanese American communities displaced by freeways in the name of progress. Looking forward to the area’s redevelopment, the Link will also be a valuable car-free connector for the thousands of new residents and businesses that are expected to flow into the area, alleviating the increase in car congestion, stress, and pollution that many fear.
- The Link will connect Pasadena to L.A.’s rapidly expanding regional network of multi-modal routes along the Los Angeles River watershed. At present, the network goes from South Pasadena to downtown L.A. and then north and south.
Funding
In 2022, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) put out a call for the City of Pasadena to submit a transportation projects wish list to use $230 million that it had previously allocated to complete the 710 Freeway (cancelled) and then to the Gold Line Grade Separation project (also subsequently cancelled).
Wish list projects were scored according to certain criteria, including improving circulation in the formerly-710 corridor, enhancing multi-modal transportation options, and improving safety for all road users.
Thanks to citizen advocacy and the leadership of Councilmembers Steve Madison and Andy Wilson, the Pasadena City Council unanimously voted in September 2022 to add Arroyo Link to the City’s top projects for this Metro funding.
Metro makes the final allocation decisions for the $230M. It did not include the Arroyo Link in its first round of allocations in May 2023, but there is still hope in a second round for the remaining funds. Application for those funds is in the Pasadena Department of Transportation’s hands.
A VISION OF THE FUTURE
The Arroyo Link is the missing link in our mobility between city and nature, and between our backyard and our region; it pays tribute to our rich history of ideas and ideals while laying a path to a healthy, sustainable future.
This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Pasadena to realize a safe, comfortable, multi-use path connecting its civic heart and the Arroyo Seco.