City of Pasadena Announces Community Open House for the SR-710 Reconnecting Pasadena Master Plan Process

The City of Pasadena will hold its first community open house for the SR-710 Reconnecting Pasadena project on Saturday, June 22, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Victory Park Recreation Center. The event aims to gather input from residents as the City begins the first phase of the master plan process to transform the approximately 60-acre SR-710 stub, spanning from Union Street (North), Columbia Street (South), St. John Avenue (West), and Pasadena Avenue (East), into a more inclusive and sustainable environment.

A City statement said the open house will feature an interactive model-building workshop and display boards to better understand the community’s needs and desires for the area, which was once home to over 4,000 displaced residents, primarily from low-income and minority communities, due to the demolition of approximately 1,500 homes.

“The workshop is a unique opportunity to participate in and guide the transformation of the stub from improved transportation infrastructure and pedestrian-friendly amenities to green spaces, cultural attractions, economic opportunities, and more,” said Lisa Derderian, Pasadena Public Information Officer.

The community-based design process will engage with local residents and key community groups, including hard-to-reach populations, through open houses, workshops, events, surveys, and digital outreach. In 18 months, the draft master plan will propose designs that maximize opportunities for pedestrian connectivity, land use options, recreational uses, climate-resilient infrastructure, and sustainability.

As part of the process, the plan will develop a restorative justice framework to acknowledge past harms through a collaborative approach. The restorative justice framework will help lead the project through an analysis phase to understand the existing conditions and what’s feasible before developing a set of options and alternatives based on community input.

The City has selected a team of planners, outreach specialists, architects, landscape architects, and engineers led by Perkins Eastman to work with the community and reimagine the future of the SR-710 stub.

The SR-710 project, originally proposed as part of a regional freeway network, faced opposition and legal disputes, leading to its cancellation. Starting in 2019, Pasadena began efforts to reimagine the stub by working with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to transfer control to the City, highlighting the evolving trajectory for future land use and mobility.

The City of Pasadena and City Council have established the Reconnecting Communities 710 Advisory Group to assist in developing the future vision for the relinquished area. For questions or comments, residents can contact Senior Project Manager Wendy Macias at (626) 744-4577.