Finance Committee to Consider $7.5 Million in Capital Improvements, Including City Hall Elevators and Street Lighting

Pasadena’s Finance Committee is scheduled to consider $7,521,019 in additional capital improvement spending Tuesday, including $5 million for Raymond Avenue underground utility-related street lighting and $750,000 to address failing elevators at City Hall.

The proposed amendments to the fiscal 2027 Capital Improvement Program would direct money to infrastructure, pedestrian safety and community facilities without changing the General Fund, according to a Department of Public Works report. The committee can recommend the changes, but the City Council retains final authority over the budget amendments.

The largest proposed addition is $5 million from the Underground Utilities Fund for the Raymond Avenue Undergrounding — Street Lighting project. The funding would pay for lighting materials and construction, while existing appropriations are considered sufficient to complete design. Construction is anticipated to begin in March 2027. With the proposed addition, the project’s combined street lighting and power facilities budget would total $29,692,000.

At City Hall, staff proposes using $750,000 from the Building Preventive Maintenance Fund to advance work on two elevators serving the west side, or front entrance, of the building. The elevators are approximately 35 years old and have obsolete components, according to the report. One has been out of service for months. The other recently broke down between floors, trapping seven people for almost two hours. Staff says both elevators are expected to be completed in fiscal 2028.

Another $1 million would go toward improvements at the Jackie Robinson Community Center through a federal community project grant secured as part of Congresswoman Judy Chu’s fiscal 2026 funding request. The money would primarily support renovation of the center’s pottery and kiln room, which has been out of service for an extended period, so pottery programs could resume, along with accessibility improvements. The work is expected to be completed in fiscal 2028.

Pedestrian safety proposals include $325,000 for accessible pedestrian signal equipment at 20 intersections and $127,920 for the Pedestrian Crossing Enhancements Program, which includes work associated with rapid flashing beacons. Other additions would provide $95,820 for traffic signal safety enhancements and $76,005 for the pedestrian hybrid beacon planned at Washington Boulevard and Hudson Avenue.

Staff also proposes $116,029 from private capital collected from property owners and developers for sidewalk repairs, plus $30,245 for administrative expenses connected with grant-supported sidewalk accessibility work. A separate streetlight conversion adjustment would consolidate funding from an earlier project phase, rather than provide new net funding.

Three water and power adjustments would move existing allocations among projects, including $899,104 for transformer upgrades, $1,360,872 for vehicles and equipment and $446,930 for the Power Transmission Program. Those transfers would not independently increase the overall capital budget.

The Public Works Department recommends treating the proposed budgetary actions as administrative activities not yet subject to environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act. The report says appropriate environmental analysis would occur before the city commits to a specific project requiring it.

The Finance Committee is scheduled to meet at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13, in the City Council Chamber, Room S249 at City Hall, 100 North Garfield Avenue, in Pasadena. For more information call (626) 744-7311 or visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/agendas/.