Creating a safe, healthy Parkway and Denholm Drive and Merced Ave Linear Park design

The City of El Monte is working on two projects, Parkway/Denholm, and the Merced Ave Linear Park which will add traffic-separated bikeways, traffic calming, neighborhood amenities, and stormwater management. These projects will improve public safety, help slow speeding traffic, and increase comfort with new plantings and shade trees. Please click the links above to learn more about each project. 

Parkway Drive Presentation from February 2022 Community Meeting

EXISTING CONDITIONS

The project corridor is a residential street primarily developed with single-family homes. Denholm Drive, at the northwest end of the project corridor, is developed with commercial office-park properties where it meets Durfee Avenue. A light industrial property was located on Denholm Drive just west of Mountain View High School, but has since been replaced with an approximately 6-acre single-family home development beginning in 2012. The two-lane roadway is wide, with a 60-foot curb to curb width, and a 70-foot right of way. Curbside parking is permitted on both sides of the street, and speedbumps have been installed in an attempt to mitigate vehicular speeding on the corridor.​

TRANSIT OPERATIONS

SIDEWALKS &
CURB RAMPS

PARKING

PEDESTRIAN &
​BIKE FACILITIES

The City operates transit buses on the Parkway Drive between Fineview Street and Magnolia Street as part of its Orange Route and Yellow Route services. Typical headway on city operated transit routes is 50 minutes. There are no improved bus stops on the corridor although some stops feature a typical post-mounted bus blade sign.

The project corridor is developed with 5-foot wide sidewalks on both sides. Curb ramps are typically one way. Corridor sidewalks and curb ramps are not considered ADA-compliant, as there are a number of narrow points created by utility conflicts and curb ramps are not bidirectional. The overall condition of the sidewalk could be considered ‘fair’.

Curbside parking is permitted on both sides of the street along the project corridor. The only parking restrictions are on Thursdays when street sweeping occurs on both sides of the corridor. In addition, a short zone of 20-minute restricted parking is located in front of Mountain View High School. No parking ‘red curb’ areas are present along the corridor near intersections and adjacent to fire hydrant locations.

There are no existing bicycle facilities on the project corridor. Crosswalks are located at some of the intersections along the corridor, primarily at 4-way intersections, while many of the T-intersections are lacking crosswalks. Most crosswalks are not up to current standard and should be upgraded to the ‘continental crosswalk’ style.