Five-Mile 626 Golden Streets Returns May 1 to South Pasadena, Alhambra, San Gabriel

After a two and a half year stoppage of all open street events in the San Gabriel Valley, 626 Golden Streets is set to return May 1.

The Mission to Mission route, which will open up streets to bicyclists and pedestrians for five miles, will run through South Pasadena, Alhambra and San Gabriel.

"It’s been a long two and a half years without open streets," said ​Wesley Reutimann, Special Programs Director at ActiveSGV, the event organizer.

The event is funded through Metro's Open and Slow Streets grant program. The Mission to Mission event, which received $396,000, was originally left of the original Metro staff recommendation, but qualified for funding after the Metro board approved an additional $2 million toward open streets events at the December 2 meeting.

When public health guidelines went into affect during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, all planned 626 Golden Streets events were cancelled. Many of the funds originally planned for open streets went to slow streets and outdoor dining initiatives.

COVID concerns canceled an April 2020 626 Golden Streets: Heart of the Foothills event that was to include Pomona, San Dimas and La Verne. Heart of the Foothills will return April 2023 after qualifying for the most recent cycle of Metro Open and Slow Streets grant funding.

While the May event will follow Los Angeles County and CDC public health guidelines for COVID-19, the event will have about a third less of vendors at each hub to discourage crowding. said Reutimann. Organizers are also planning to add pop up outdoor dinning and seating in the downtown Alhambra area.

SBLA San Gabriel Valley coverage, including this article and SGV Connect, is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”

Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays.