Colorado Boulevard (or Colorado Street in
Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''.
It may refer to:
Places Australia
* Glendale, New South Wales
** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre
*Glendale, Queensland, ...
and
Arcadia
Arcadia may refer to:
Places Australia
* Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
* Arcadia, Queensland
* Arcadia, Victoria
Greece
* Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese
* Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...
) is a major east–west street in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
. It runs from
Griffith Park
Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the Ameri ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
east through
Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''.
It may refer to:
Places Australia
* Glendale, New South Wales
** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre
*Glendale, Queensland, ...
, the
Eagle Rock Eagle Rock may refer to:
Entertainment
* "Eagle Rock" (song), a hit single in 1971 by Australian band Daddy Cool
* "Eagle Rock", a song by Motörhead
* Eagle Rock Entertainment, a record label
Places
* Eagle Rock (formation), in California
* Eag ...
section of Los Angeles,
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
Its ...
, and
Arcadia
Arcadia may refer to:
Places Australia
* Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
* Arcadia, Queensland
* Arcadia, Victoria
Greece
* Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese
* Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...
, ending in
Monrovia
Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As the ...
. The full route was once various
state highway
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...
s but is now locally maintained in favor of the parallel
Ventura Freeway
The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California, United States, running from the Santa Barbara/Ventura county line to Pasadena in Los Angeles County. It is the principal east-west route (designated north-south) through Ventura County a ...
(
SR 134) and
Foothill Freeway
The Foothill Freeway is a freeway in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, California, running from the Sylmar district of Los Angeles east to Redlands. The western segment is signed as Interstate 210 (I-210) from its western end at I-5 to S ...
(
I-210).
Route description
West end
![Colorado Street Bridge LA River 2019](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Colorado_Street_Bridge_LA_River_2019.jpg)
The west end of Colorado Boulevard is composed of two segments: a disconnected surface street segment of Colorado Boulevard, and the Colorado Street Freeway Extension. Colorado Boulevard begins at a
cul-de-sac
A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet.
The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...
near the
Los Angeles River
, name_etymology =
, image = File:Los Angeles River from Fletcher Drive Bridge 2019.jpg
, image_caption = L.A. River from Fletcher Drive Bridge
, image_size = 300
, map = LARmap.jpg
, map_size ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and continues east. The road passes on/off-ramps to the eastbound Colorado Street Freeway Extension, and Edenhurst Avenue, which provides access to the westbound freeway. The segment terminates at West
San Fernando Road
San Fernando Road is a major street in the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County. Within the Burbank city limits it is signed as San Fernando Boulevard, and north of Newhall Pass it is signed as The Old Road. It was previously designated ...
near the Los Angeles-
Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''.
It may refer to:
Places Australia
* Glendale, New South Wales
** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre
*Glendale, Queensland, ...
city limits, and picks up across the railroad corridor at San Fernando Road in the city of Glendale as Colorado Street.
The Colorado Street Freeway Extension begins at
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Califor ...
(
Golden State Freeway
Interstate 5 (I-5) is a major north–south route of the Interstate Highway System in the United States, stretching from the Mexican border at the San Ysidro crossing to the Canadian border near Blaine, Washington. The segment of I-5 in ...
) as a short
freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
spur, originally carrying
State Route 134 until it was moved north onto the
Ventura Freeway
The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California, United States, running from the Santa Barbara/Ventura county line to Pasadena in Los Angeles County. It is the principal east-west route (designated north-south) through Ventura County a ...
, but is still maintained by
Caltrans
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...
. After crossing the
Los Angeles River
, name_etymology =
, image = File:Los Angeles River from Fletcher Drive Bridge 2019.jpg
, image_caption = L.A. River from Fletcher Drive Bridge
, image_size = 300
, map = LARmap.jpg
, map_size ...
, there is an eastbound
interchange with Colorado Boulevard (signed as Edenhurst Avenue), a westbound interchange with Edenhurst Avenue, and an eastbound interchange with Elk Avenue (signed as San Fernando Road). The freeway then terminates at Colorado Street in
Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''.
It may refer to:
Places Australia
* Glendale, New South Wales
** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre
*Glendale, Queensland, ...
. Traffic exiting the Colorado Street Freeway Extension cannot turn west onto Colorado Street, but eastbound traffic from Colorado Street can enter the freeway. The freeway's entrances are signed as entrances to
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Califor ...
.
At the east border of Glendale, Colorado Street becomes Colorado Boulevard as it crosses
State Route 2 (
Glendale Freeway
State Route 2 (SR 2) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It connects the Los Angeles Basin with the San Gabriel Mountains and the Victor Valley in the Mojave Desert. The highway's southwestern end is at the intersection of C ...
) into Los Angeles (specifically, the neighborhood of Eagle Rock). Another short freeway spur splits west of the intersection with
Figueroa Street
Figueroa Street is a major north-south street in Los Angeles County, California, spanning from the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington north to Eagle Rock. A short, unconnected continuation of Figueroa Street runs just south of Marengo Driv ...
, heading northeast to the
Ventura Freeway
The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California, United States, running from the Santa Barbara/Ventura county line to Pasadena in Los Angeles County. It is the principal east-west route (designated north-south) through Ventura County a ...
. This spur also carried SR 134 after the Ventura Freeway was built to the east but before it was built west of the split with the spur. After crossing Figueroa Street, Colorado Boulevard splits from Linda Vista Avenue and then passes over the
Arroyo Seco on the
Colorado Street Bridge into Pasadena.
Through Pasadena
In Pasadena, Colorado Boulevard crosses the short
State Route 710 spur and forms the north end of
State Route 110 (
Arroyo Parkway). Colorado Street, renamed "Boulevard" in 1958, runs through
Old Town Pasadena
Old Pasadena, often referred to as Old Town Pasadena or just Old Town, is the original commercial center of Pasadena, a city in California, United States, and had a latter-day revitalization after a period of decay.
Old Pasadena began as the ce ...
from Arroyo Parkway to
Orange Grove Boulevard
Orange Grove Boulevard is a main thoroughfare in Pasadena and South Pasadena, California. Each New Year's Day, the Rose Parade participants and floats line up before dawn on Orange Grove Boulevard, facing north, for the beginning of the parade. S ...
. It is the north–south zero axis of the
street grid
In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid.
Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogona ...
in Pasadena (the east–west axis is
Fair Oaks Avenue
Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena, California, is a major north–south road connecting the communities of Altadena, Pasadena, and South Pasadena, running in length. It starts at its southernmost end in South Pasadena at Huntington Drive. It travels ...
). The
Tournament of Roses
The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade (or simply the Tournament of Roses), is an annual parade held mostly along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, Pasadena, California, United States, on New Year's Day (or on Mon ...
parade route travels north on Orange Grove Avenue then east along Colorado Boulevard as far as
Sierra Madre Boulevard
Sierra Madre Boulevard is a long road connecting five suburbs of Pasadena, California; Arcadia, Sierra Madre, Hastings Ranch, East Pasadena, and San Marino.
For the most part, it is a winding road divided by a grassy median, but the part be ...
, where it heads north to
Victory Park. Most major Pasadena attractions are found along or within one block of Colorado Boulevard.
Pasadena City College
Pasadena City College (PCC) is a Public college, public community college in Pasadena, California.
History
Pasadena, California, Pasadena City College was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. From 1928 to 1953, it operated as a four- ...
is located at 1570 E. Colorado Boulevard. The street was mentioned in
Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean was an American rock music, rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf mu ...
's 1964 hit song ''
The Little Old Lady from Pasadena
"The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)" is a song written by Don Altfeld, Jan Berry and Roger Christian, and recorded by 1960s American pop singers, Jan and Dean. Singer/songwriter P.F. Sloan sings the falsetto part usually sung by Dean Torrence, ...
''. The road leaves the city into unincorporated
East Pasadena, where it intersects
Rosemead Boulevard
Rosemead is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2021 census, it had a population of 50,245, currently dropping. Rosemead is part of a cluster of cities, along with Alhambra, Arcadia, Temple City, Monterey Par ...
(
Former State Route 19), all while formerly signed as California State Route 248.
Through Arcadia and Monrovia
Colorado Boulevard becomes Colorado Street as it crosses Michillinda Avenue from East Pasadena into Arcadia. Through Arcadia, the street parallels the
Foothill Freeway
The Foothill Freeway is a freeway in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, California, running from the Sylmar district of Los Angeles east to Redlands. The western segment is signed as Interstate 210 (I-210) from its western end at I-5 to S ...
, providing access to many of the neighborhoods in west Arcadia; freeway access is provided via a separated interchange with Baldwin Avenue. Colorado Street then turns southeast and splits into two streets—Colorado Boulevard, which continues east, and Colorado Place, a short segment of old
US 66
U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...
that goes southeast to merge with Huntington Drive near the
Santa Anita Racetrack
Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...
.
From the split, Colorado Boulevard (originally named Orange Street) becomes a primarily residential street, with some commercial zones near Santa Anita Avenue in Arcadia. The street passes under the
Foothill Freeway
The Foothill Freeway is a freeway in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, California, running from the Sylmar district of Los Angeles east to Redlands. The western segment is signed as Interstate 210 (I-210) from its western end at I-5 to S ...
between First and Second Streets in Arcadia with no access, in front of
Monrovia High School
Monrovia High School is a public high school located in Monrovia, California, a northeastern suburb of Los Angeles, United States. Monrovia High School is the only grades 9–12 comprehensive high school in the Monrovia Unified School Distric ...
, and through Old Town
Monrovia
Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As the ...
before ending at Shamrock Avenue at Recreation Park in Monrovia. (This segment of Shamrock Avenue was once part of an early alignment of
US 66
U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...
and had been named
Foothill Boulevard.)
The
Santa Anita Depot, built in 1890 to serve
Lucky Baldwin
Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin (April 3, 1828 – March 1, 1909) was "one of the greatest pioneers" of California business, an investor, and real estate speculator during the second half of the 19th century. He earned the nickname "Lucky" Baldwin d ...
, and the people of
Rancho Santa Anita
Rancho Santa Anita was a land grant in present-day Los Angeles County, California given to naturalized Scottish immigrant Hugo Reid and his Kizh people wife. Reid built an adobe residence there in 1839, and the land grant was formally recognized ...
, was located at Colorado Boulevard and Old Ranch Road. It was moved to the
Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden
The Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, 127 acres (51.4 ha), is an arboretum, botanical garden, and historical site nestled into hills near the San Gabriel Mountains in Arcadia, California, United States. Open daily, it only close ...
during the construction of the
210 Foothill Freeway in 1970.
History
![ColoradoStreet_and_Oakland_Pasadena_CA_1890](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/ColoradoStreet_and_Oakland_Pasadena_CA_1890.jpg)
The most original portion of Colorado Boulevard ran from Orange Grove Boulevard to Broadway, now Arroyo Parkway. This portion of the street always contained many shops, banks, hotels, and major commercial industries. By the late 19th century, this part of Colorado had become so popular, it was becoming a traffic bottleneck, and as early as May 1900 there were public outcries to the City Council to widen the road. It wasn't until 1929 that the City undertook the major and unprecedented task of cutting back the buildings along Colorado on each side. This undertaking created a monumental amount of legal red tape as well as many engineering dilemmas which were handled with amazing results. At the same time many of the Victorian facings on the buildings were replaced with Spanish and Art Deco designs.
The
Colorado Street Railway began operations in Pasadena on November 9, 1886, bringing mass transit to the street via the new
horsecar
A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar.
Summary
The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...
service. The line was electrified in 1903 and was eventually absorbed into the
Pacific Electric
The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...
system. The
Lamanda Park Line
The Lamanda Park Line, also known as the Colorado Street Line, was a local line of the Pacific Electric Railway serving Pasadena until 1941.
History
The original horsecar line was established by the Colorado Street Railway on November 9, ...
and other local services operated in the center of the roadway until January 19, 1941.
Colorado Street and Colorado Boulevard carried
pre-1964 Legislative Route 161 from its west end to the merge with Huntington Drive (via Colorado Place). This was signed as
State Route 134 west of
Figueroa Street
Figueroa Street is a major north-south street in Los Angeles County, California, spanning from the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington north to Eagle Rock. A short, unconnected continuation of Figueroa Street runs just south of Marengo Driv ...
,
U.S. Route 66 Alternate (US 66 before the end of 1940) from Figueroa Street to
Arroyo Parkway, and
U.S. Route 66
U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...
from Arroyo Parkway to Huntington Drive.
In 1954, the Colorado Freeway was opened between Holly Street in Pasadena and Eagle Vista Drive and Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock to help alleviate traffic congestion due to the narrow Colorado Street Bridge over the Arroyo Seco. The new freeway connected the two communities until 1971, when the entire freeway was closed and upgraded, as well as partially rerouted as the new Ventura Freeway. A short segment of the original Colorado Freeway remains as an on-ramp/off-ramp between Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock and the Figueroa Street off-ramp of the present Ventura Freeway.
In the
1964 renumbering, LR 161 remained
State Route 134 west of Pasadena, though this was being moved to the new alignment (now the
Ventura Freeway
The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California, United States, running from the Santa Barbara/Ventura county line to Pasadena in Los Angeles County. It is the principal east-west route (designated north-south) through Ventura County a ...
); until the freeway was completed through Pasadena in the mid-1970s, Colorado Boulevard was still signed as
State Route 134 between Orange Grove Avenue and Arroyo Parkway. Through and east of Pasadena, LR 161 became State Route 248, but was signed as
US 66
U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...
and continued east on Huntington Drive to the
interchange with
Interstate 210 (
Foothill Freeway
The Foothill Freeway is a freeway in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, California, running from the Sylmar district of Los Angeles east to Redlands. The western segment is signed as Interstate 210 (I-210) from its western end at I-5 to S ...
) in
Monrovia
Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As the ...
. In 1965, this was to be deleted when I-210 was completed.
The
US 66
U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...
shields began to come down along the length of Route 248 in 1975, soon after
Interstate 210 was completed through Pasadena. SR 248 was never signed as such, though it did appear on some maps in the 1970s and 1980s. The segment within the city of Pasadena was deleted from the state highway system in 1986. The rest was removed in 1992.
Along with the moving of SR 134 to the
Ventura Freeway
The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California, United States, running from the Santa Barbara/Ventura county line to Pasadena in Los Angeles County. It is the principal east-west route (designated north-south) through Ventura County a ...
, this resulted in Colorado Street and Colorado Boulevard becoming a local road.
Transit
Colorado Boulevard is served by several bus routes, operated by
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
and suburban systems.
Metro Local
Los Angeles Metro Bus is the transit bus service in Los Angeles County, California operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .
, there are ...
line 180 serves most of Colorado Boulevard, running between Hollywood and Pasadena.
Also,
Foothill Transit
Foothill Transit is a public transit agency that is government funded by 22 member cities in the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys. It operates a fixed-route bus public transit service in the San Gabriel Valley region of eastern Los Angeles Cou ...
line 187 serves parts of Colorado Boulevard, beginning in
Old Pasadena
Old Pasadena, often referred to as Old Town Pasadena or just Old Town, is the original commercial center of Pasadena, a city in California, United States, and had a latter-day revitalization after a period of decay.
Old Pasadena began as the ce ...
.
LADOT DASH
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation, commonly referred to as LADOT, is a municipal agency that oversees transportation planning, design, construction, maintenance and operations within the city of Los Angeles. LADOT was created by city or ...
Eagle Rock/Highland Park serves most of Colorado Boulevard in
Eagle Rock Eagle Rock may refer to:
Entertainment
* "Eagle Rock" (song), a hit single in 1971 by Australian band Daddy Cool
* "Eagle Rock", a song by Motörhead
* Eagle Rock Entertainment, a record label
Places
* Eagle Rock (formation), in California
* Eag ...
.
Glendale Transit
Glendale Beeline is the municipal bus service operated by the city of Glendale, California, United States. It provides service in Glendale, as well as parts of the nearby La Crescenta-Montrose and La Cañada Flintridge. The service complements th ...
line 6 serves Colorado Street in Glendale.
Controversies
Metro has identified Colorado Boulevard as a potential
bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
corridor, part of a line between
North Hollywood station and Pasadena approved in 2016's
Measure M
Measure R was a ballot measure during the November 2008 elections in Los Angeles County, California, that proposed a half-cent sales taxes increase on each dollar of taxable sales (originating in or made from Los Angeles County) for thirty years i ...
. The bus rapid transit project would need to include removable components to allow for the annual staging of the
Rose Parade
The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade (or simply the Tournament of Roses), is an annual parade held mostly along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, United States, on New Year's Day (or on Monday, January 2 if N ...
. Some local residents fear increased traffic congestion due to the proposed bus rapid transit route, whil
others supportincreasing access to high-quality transit.
In popular culture
The street is mentioned in the 1964
Jan & Dean
Jan and Dean was an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music styles ...
single
The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena), with the protagonist described as the "terror of Colorado Boulevard."
See also
*
References
External links
{{Pasadena
Streets in Los Angeles County, California
Streets in Los Angeles
Streets in Pasadena, California
Streets in the San Gabriel Valley
Transportation in Glendale, California
Boulevards in the United States
Arcadia, California
Monrovia, California
Southern California freeways
U.S. Route 66 in California