District 7 Projects

The beautiful and historic Arroyo Seco Parkway (State Route 110), formerly known as the Pasadena Freeway, marked an important transitional moment in the history of American freeway engineering and transportation.

The Arroyo Seco Parkway opened to the motoring public in 1940. At the dedication ceremony, California Governor Culbert L. Olso declared the Arroyo Seco Parkway to be the "first freeway in the West." It was hailed both as a "modern" and "novel" road by state highway engineers due to its safety features. A 1945 study pointed to these safety features as an explanation for the remarkably low ration of traffic accidents that the parkway enjoyed in comparison to other major highways with similar traffic volumes.  Residents of the region described it as the "hanging gardens" of the Arroyo, or more simply as "picturesque."

The historic Arroyo Seco Parkway was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in February 2011, designated a National Scenic Byway by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation in 2002, and designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1999 by the American Society of Engineers.

"  . . . Development and implementation of a corridor management plan to maintain the scenic, historical, recreational, cultural, natural, and archaeological characteristics of a byway corridor while providing for accommodation of increased tourism and development of related amenities, 23 U.S.C. 162(c)(2).

The CPP for the Historic Arroyo Seco Parkway National Scenic Byway establishes a framework and structure by which the future of the byway corridor can be effectively managed. To accomplish this, the CPP identifies a series of strategies, recommendations and implementation measures to be undertaken for the benefit of the Arroyo Seco Parkway and the overall Byway Corridor:

1. A corridor management plan is a written document that specifies the actions, procedures, controls, operational practices, and strategies to maintain the archaeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic qualities that support the byway’s designation. The plan should:

• Be developed with community involvement,
• Provide for the conservation and enhancement of the byway’s intrinsic qualities as well as the promotion of tourism and other economic development, and
• Provide an effective management strategy to balance these concerns while providing for the users’ enjoyment of the byway.

2. The plan must address the 14 points of corridor management planning that are included in the Federal Highway Administration’s Interim Policy for the National Scenic Byways Program published in the Federal Register on May 15, 1995; see http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-1995-05-18/html/95-12211.htm.

3. Development of a corridor management plan includes:

• Inventories of the intrinsic qualities that form the byway’s story and the byway travelers’ experience,
• Public outreach, involvement and participation,
• Partnerships,
• Maps, and
• Preparation and printing of the plan.