Pasadena Water and Power has pushed major construction at Washington Boulevard and Raymond Avenue, part of its Raymond Avenue undergrounding project, to Sept. 21 from Sept. 14, with lanes reduced at the intersection for about three weeks.
Lanes at the intersection may be closed or rerouted depending on the phase of work, which is currently scheduled from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and drivers should expect delays, the utility says in a September update on its undergrounding webpage.
The schedule was amended because of forecasted rain, according to Councilmember Justin L. Jones’ District 3 newsletter published Friday, Sept. 4, which also lists a partial closure of Raymond between Washington Boulevard and Claremont Street beginning the week of Sept. 7 and lasting about three weeks.
When crews reach the Washington crossing the week of Sept. 21, the work will bring lane closures, closures of the turn pockets into Raymond and reduced speed limits, the newsletter says.
The intersection work follows a partial closure at Hammond Street and Raymond Avenue that began Aug. 17 and was expected to last about three weeks, according to the utility.
The Raymond Avenue Underground Utility District covers 2.02 miles of Raymond Avenue from Maple Street to the northern city limits, crossing Council Districts 1, 3 and 5, with 61 utility poles, 247 parcels and 268 meters and a budget of $43.8 million, according to the presentation Pasadena Water and Power gave at a Jan. 14 community meeting.
Construction started Feb. 2 with the contractor Doty Bros. Construction Company. Installation of the electrical backbone was set to begin in August, with service connections to customers starting in February 2027, pole and line removal in February 2028, and streetlight installation and street resurfacing in early 2028.
Two contractor crews, one starting at Maple Street and the other at Claremont Street, are working north in parallel, the presentation says. Single-lane reroutes with flaggers and temporary no-parking on the working street are the project’s standard traffic control, and driveway access is to be maintained unless the contractor arranges otherwise in advance.
The project pays for the designated conversion of each customer’s electrical service panel to the underground system, the presentation says; customers who choose an alternate option pay for and permit it themselves but remain eligible for a rebate of up to $3,000 for materials.
The city’s Underground Utility District Program dates to 1968 and moves overhead electric and communications lines below ground to reduce outages, improve safety and protect the urban forest, the utility says. Once the Raymond Avenue project is complete, a Mountain Street district between Lake and Hill avenues is scheduled to follow, with a preconstruction meeting likely in fall 2028 and construction starting in January 2029.
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