Close Off Colorado Boulevard To Cars? Pasadena Resident Proposes Turning Stretch Of Road Into Open-Air Plaza For Pedestrians

PASADENA (CBSLA) — Anyone who has spent any amount of time of Colorado Boulevard knows why the charming stretch of road is known as Old Town Pasadena.

But with no end in sight for Los Angeles County’s Safer at Home order, a number of local restaurants have shuttered and even more continue to struggle.

“It’s very difficult on the business to say the least,” AJ Sacher, director of operations at Barney’s Beanery, said.

That’s why Larry Wilson at the Pasadena Star-News wants to raise the possibility of shutting down Colorado Boulevard to car traffic, which it already does every year for the Rose Parade.

“Stop traffic, have the restaurants put out their tables and umbrellas,” Wilson said. “And treat it like a European or Mexican plaza.”

The practice is nothing new in the Southland with Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade and Fiesta Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles. Laguna Beach is even considering a similar move.

And back in Pasadena, Wilson hopes City Hall will at least consider the idea, and Sacher said the city could even start with allowing tables and chairs in a closed alley before shutting down the street.

“It would allow for an open-air place for us to serve customers, and maybe for customers to feel a little more comfortable going out,” Sacher said.

When asked about the potential plan, Mayor Terry Tornek said to contact the Old Pasadena Management District, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.