The Votes Are In!
2024 Readers' Choice is back, bigger and better than ever!
View Winners → Caltrans and Metro Planning Higher Barriers Along Gold Line Extension in Pasadena
News Jul 30, 2018
Photo by Terry Miller / Hey SoCal
by
share with
The existing barriers between the 210 Freeway and the Gold Line tracks will be replaced with 56-inch Type 60 CalTrans barriers. – Photo by Terry Miller/Beacon Media News
The $11 million project could take years to finish
By Terry Miller
Twelve miles of concrete barriers (considering east and westbound) of light rail track along the 210 Freeway will soon be facing a major makeover.
Gold Line service was impacted by multiple 210 Freeway car crashes in April 2018, January 2018, December 2016, and March 2016. In an effort to enhance safety and prevent vehicles from landing on the Gold Line tracks, Metro has a project in the works that will increase the height of the existing walls that separate the trains from the 210.
According to the proposal, Metro has had meetings with Caltrans to discuss the issue. Metro’s preliminary engineering states that there is a need to replace the existing 32-inch high Type 50 barriers which do not provide “adequate protection to reduce the risk of vehicles breaching the median barrier and colliding with one of our trains or injure Metro Patrons on station platforms,” Metro engineers stated in a recent meeting.
Currently, the barriers stand at 32 inches. – Photo by Terry Miller / Beacon Media News
The plan is to install a taller 56-inch high, Type 60 G Caltrans barrier. This improved barrier will provide the highest level available of crash test worthiness. It’s all in the planning stages, according to Metro spokesman Dave Sotero.
“It’s a massive project, and many things need to be considered … the Gold Line Extension is shaped like [an] “s” curve and this poses visibility issues that need to be addressed for safety,” Sotero told Pasadena Independent.
The study and design will need Board approval and is estimated to cost around $11 million. Nearly all of the limited project information available is in a staff presentation. The designs are expected to be complete by June 2019. The project includes new stronger barriers, plus an “intrusion detection system.”
