Welcome to Monrovia: New Signals, More Art Planned Along Huntington Drive

New entryway monument proposed for the intersection at Fifth Avenue and Huntington Drive. – Courtesy rendering / City of Monrovia

By Terry Miller

The City of Monrovia’s ambitious renewal project is substantial and has many area cities looking at how well the plan is going — in no small part due to an excellent team at city hall and the contractor’s knowledge and efficient progress.

“Monrovia Renewal,” as it has been dubbed, is the largest public works project in the city’s history. The initiative is making citywide repairs to water and sewer pipelines, water facilities, streets, sidewalks, curbs and gutters. These improvements are expected to take four to five years to complete and cost $51.7 million.

While there have been a few hiccups, for the most part the project(s) are moving along at a fevered-pace with the experience of the Sully Miller Contracting Company driving the enormous project.

If anyone has been frustrated by the traffic on Huntington Drive coming into the City of Monrovia, fear not. The city has a plan to not only cut down the wait times at Fifth Avenue and Huntington Drive but also welcome you to the new and improved city, complete with a redesigned southeast entry monument.

During the past year, the city has been engaged in coordinating a capital improvement project that will result in a reconfiguration of the intersection at Fifth Avenue and Huntington Drive.

According to Oliver Chi’s City Manager’s Update last week, the planned improvements are funded through a variety of different sources, and the overall elements associated with the enhancements include:

• An initial reconfiguration of the southeast entryway corner of Huntington Drive and Fifth Avenue to facilitate future phases of the improvements.
• Installation of a new entryway monument at the location (along with corresponding entryway monuments and public art along the entire stretch of Huntington Drive in Monrovia), as well as new landscaping.
• Widening of Huntington Drive at Fifth Avenue in Monrovia will hopefully facilitate improved traffic flow at that location which has become a bone of contention for motorists, especially at lunch time and during the paradoxical “rush hour.”
• Installation of new traffic signals at the Huntington Drive and Fifth Avenue intersection will facilitate protected left turn movements in all directions.

In order for the reconfiguration of the southwest entryway corner on Huntington Drive to proceed, the city needs to expand the area of this particular corner to facilitate all of the planned future work. To accomplish this task, Sully Miller will work to expand the covering over an existing underground pedestrian trail that travels below Huntington Drive, along the Santa Anita wash.

Utilizing some of the existing structure, a box culvert will be built in the wash that will include a traffic rated deck to match the existing grade of the corner. This will add more than 100 additional square feet of space to this corner and will form the basis for the eventual installation of new welcome monuments, improved landscaping, new traffic signals, and pedestrian space.

That particular phase will take a month to complete, and although the work will take place out of the roadway, there may be times when contractors will be encroaching onto Fifth Avenue and Huntington Drive during the construction activity.

If you have any questions about this project, please call Public Works at (626) 932-5575 or email PWComments@ci.monrovia.ca.us.