On Sunday, Nov. 15, Colorado Boulevard closes to cars from Pasadena Avenue to Allen Avenue for CicLAvia Pasadena. It is a free, non-ticketed open streets day, and the city's first since May 2015. Most listings give the hours as 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For anyone who parks, lives or gets deliveries along the 2.7-mile route, the day starts five hours before the first bike rolls and ends about two hours after the last one.
The route also bends south onto Raymond Avenue from Pacific Alley to East Dayton Street. It has two activity hubs, one at 145 N. Raymond Ave. near Memorial Park and one at 1778 E. Colorado Blvd. on the east end. The nonprofit CicLAvia is producing the event with the City of Pasadena, and Los Angeles Metro is paying for part of it.
Six times that matter on Nov. 15
CicLAvia and the city have published one schedule for people on the street and another for cars. Put together, they look like this.
| Time | What happens on the route |
|---|---|
| 4 a.m. | Parking ban begins on the route, with towing enforced |
| 6 a.m. | Streets near the two activity hubs may close |
| 7 a.m. | Route streets close to cars and delivery drivers |
| 9 a.m. | Event opens to people walking, biking and rolling |
| 3 p.m. | Event ends |
| About 5 p.m. | Streets reopen to cars and the parking ban lifts |
The table shows the trade-off for anyone nearby. From 4 a.m. to 5 p.m., a car parked on the route is at risk, and a car in a driveway on the route stays put, since those driveways will be blocked. The upside is the quiet before 9 a.m. and after 3 p.m., when the boulevard is closed to traffic but the event hasn't started or has wrapped up. If you live close to Memorial Park or the Colorado Hub, plan on the 6 a.m. time. CicLAvia notes that streets near the activity hubs may close that early.
Move the car on Saturday night
If you park on Colorado or the Raymond section, move the car before you go to bed Saturday. A 4 a.m. ban isn't something to handle with an early alarm. CicLAvia has said it may reimburse people who live or work directly on the route up to $20 per vehicle for parking costs. That covers a nearby lot. It won't cover a tow.
Getting across the boulevard by car during the day is the less obvious problem. CicLAvia says cars can cross the route at selected major streets, but it shows those crossing points only as symbols on its route map. The event page doesn't list them as text. The map's legend has a "Crossing point for cars" symbol, and it labels the cross streets: Fair Oaks, Raymond, Arroyo Parkway, Los Robles, El Molino, Lake, Wilson, Hill, Bonnie and Allen, among others. Not every labeled street is necessarily a crossing. Check the official route map at ciclavia.org before you plan a drive from the Playhouse District to anywhere south of Colorado.
The same applies to Sunday deliveries and pickups. Delivery drivers won't be allowed to drive or park on the route between 7 a.m. and about 5 p.m. If your address is on the route, a grocery or takeout order placed that afternoon will have to reach you from a side street.
Bus riders have nothing to plan around yet. The event page has a "Bus Detours" heading with no details under it. Look for updates at cityofpasadena.net and ciclavia.org closer to the date.
The A Line is the way in
If driving is mostly off the table, the Metro A Line is the easiest way to reach the route. The city says the car-free stretch connects to Memorial Park station. CicLAvia lists five stations near the route.
- Memorial Park, less than 0.1 mile, next to the Raymond Avenue hub
- Del Mar, less than 0.1 mile, at the south end of the Raymond section
- Lake, 0.4 mile, a few blocks north of the Colorado and Lake intersection
- Allen, 0.4 mile, near the east end of the route
- Fillmore, 0.8 mile, the farthest south
CicLAvia hasn't posted any A Line service changes for the day. Station locations also suggest a simple plan. Take the train to Allen, start at the Colorado Hub, head west, and take the train home from Memorial Park or Del Mar. You see the whole route once, with no car to collect afterward.
Both hubs offer free water, ADA-compliant restrooms, first aid, basic bike repair and bike parking. Pedicabs are available first come, first served. The activity schedule is still empty: as of this writing, CicLAvia's listing of activities along the route shows "No results found."
What's already on the route, west to east
Without a program, the route is defined by the businesses on it. Several opened this summer, and a few have already posted event-day offers on CicLAvia's map. In order from Old Pasadena east:
- The Bar Method, 32 Mills Place, is offering a free class pass.
- Bokãos Aveda, 52 Hugus Alley, plans free consultations and styling, 15% off and a drawing.
- Jenette Bras, 18 E. Holly St., has $50 certificates for the first 10 visitors and 15% off sports garments.
- Tierra Caliente, 115 E. Colorado Blvd., soft-opened July 24.
- Milk Brew, 263 E. Colorado Blvd., held its grand opening the weekend of Aug. 1 and 2.
- Carbon Health, 600 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 120, is handing out water, Liquid IV and first aid supplies, with priority care.
- The Daily Catch, 927 E. Colorado Blvd., held its ribbon cutting July 16.
- Strong Sports Gym, 985 E. Colorado Blvd., will have the store open and offer mini-lessons.
- Tea Spots, 1443 Colorado Blvd., is offering 10% off for Pasadena residents.
Just north of the route, Mammoth Coffee Roasting Co. opened July 20 at 183 N. Fair Oaks Ave., Suite 40. That's a short walk from the Old Pasadena end.
For the summer openings, Nov. 15 will be one of their first big weekends, and the boulevard in front of them will be full of people on foot.
The map will fill in by Nov. 12
The list above will grow, and the city's permit deadlines decide what shows up on it. Businesses on the route that want to sell or serve food outdoors need a one-day permit from the Pasadena Public Health Department. The deadline to request one is Oct. 9, five days from today. Requests for sidewalk canopies are due Oct. 16. Event-day specials can be added to CicLAvia's interactive map for free through Thursday, Nov. 12, subject to approval. As of Sept. 26, the map listed specials from six Pasadena businesses.
The rules limit how big any one storefront's setup can be. Outdoor setups must leave 4 feet of clearance for ADA access, nothing can go in the street, and small speakers are allowed while live music and DJs may be regulated. Expect the Colorado sidewalk to look like a series of small storefront tables, not a stage-and-vendor festival.
Both district groups along the route back the event. The city says the Old Pasadena Management District and the Playhouse Village Association support it. The case for businesses comes from a UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs study of a 2013 CicLAvia on Wilshire Boulevard. Businesses along that route saw a 10 percent increase in sales on the event day, and businesses that engaged participants directly saw 57 percent. That study covers a different street in a different year. It does explain why the Nov. 12 map deadline matters to Colorado Boulevard storefronts.
For a fuller picture of the day, check the interactive map again the week of Nov. 9, after the business deadline and while hub programming may still be added. For your own plans, the useful steps are already clear: move the car Saturday night, take the A Line, and start at whichever hub is closer to home.
MW Lofts sits on El Molino, a block from the route, and residents there can walk down to Colorado for the whole day. To see the building and the neighborhood around it, contact Dina Gonzalez - Main Site and Register for Your Visit.
