Crews Begin Crosswalk Safety Upgrades at Two Intersections

Construction crews have begun installing pedestrian safety upgrades at two Pasadena intersections — Marengo Avenue at Wallis Street and Hill Avenue at Howard Street — where the city plans to add flashing crossing beacons, brighter lighting and new striping by the end of summer.

Public Works Director Greg de Vinck announced the work, which began June 22, in the City Manager’s weekly newsletter. The improvements center on rectangular rapid flashing beacons — pedestrian-activated devices, triggered by a pushbutton, that federal transportation officials rank among the most effective low-cost tools for getting drivers to stop for people in crosswalks.

Along with the beacons, the project includes upgraded traffic-signal poles, LED lighting, new pavement striping, signage and related concrete work, the newsletter said. Public Works will phase the work to keep one travel lane open in each direction, and construction is expected to wrap by the end of summer.

The newsletter said the project is paid for through Metro’s subregional program, with additional money from the city’s traffic reduction fees. The Metro funding flows from Measure M, the half-cent sales tax that Los Angeles County voters approved in 2016 to fund transportation projects across the county, including in the San Gabriel Valley.

The beacons have a strong safety record. The Federal Highway Administration lists rectangular rapid flashing beacons among its “proven safety countermeasures,” citing research that they can cut pedestrian crashes by up to 47% and push driver yield rates as high as 96%; one peer-reviewed study of Florida installations estimated a 69% reduction in pedestrian-involved crashes. Industry estimates put the typical cost of a complete beacon system around $22,250. The devices work best on multilane streets with speed limits under 40 mph, federal guidance says.

Both streets carry weight in Pasadena’s own safety planning. In a roadway safety action plan developed in 2025, city staff found that about 13% of Pasadena’s street network accounts for roughly 80% of its fatal and serious-injury collisions, and named Marengo Avenue among the corridors targeted for improvement. The city has adopted a goal of eliminating traffic deaths by 2035. In 2021, six people died in traffic collisions in Pasadena, according to a city transportation report, which noted that pedestrians and cyclists make up a disproportionate share of those killed. Nationwide, drivers struck and killed an estimated 7,148 pedestrians in 2024, the Governors Highway Safety Association reported.

The city said it will post construction updates on the Public Works website.