2025–2026. The schedule moves again

The July 2024 timeline didn’t hold. Staff had laid out a probable schedule for refining the concepts through the summer and fall, returning to the Historic Preservation and Design commissions, and coming back to the committee early in 2025.18 By June 2025, construction of new test panels had only begun.26

In July, the San Rafael Neighborhoods Association publicly pressed the City to make a decision. Responding to Pasadena Now, City Engineer Brent Maue said full-scale mockups were being built for internal evaluation. He anticipated presentations to the Design Commission, Public Safety Committee, and City Council beginning later that summer and continuing into fall. Installation of mockups on the bridge for public feedback would depend on those reviews.46

Pasadena’s fiscal year 2026 ran from July 2025 through June 2026. In its first-quarter report for fiscal year 2026, the City anticipated a final recommendation to the Public Safety Committee in the second quarter and moved the design phase’s target completion date from June 30, 2026, to June 30, 2028. A February 2026 second-quarter report said the test panels and review were complete, but presentations to the West Pasadena Residents’ Association and the Public Safety Committee were then anticipated in the third quarter. The June 30, 2028 target remained.26

The project’s appropriations reached $3,050,000, with $950,000 from the General Fund, $100,000 in Gas Tax funding, and $2 million labeled ARPA. In 2025, the Council transferred $130,000 on June 9 and $46,000 on July 21 to the San Rafael Bridge Seismic Retrofit project, reducing the total to $2,874,000. Staff said enough remained to finish design without affecting its progress. Construction still required additional funding.41

At a special joint Finance Committee and City Council meeting on April 20, 2026, staff reported about $1.5 million spent from the design-phase project account, about $1.3 million left to finish it, and a separate construction estimate of roughly $4 million. 31 The records reviewed here don’t confirm construction funding. 28

That account paid for more than architects’ fees. The August 2021 report describes earlier spending on temporary fencing and maintenance, mockups, environmental assessment, conceptual design, and outreach. 9 The report through June 30, 2026, records $1,475,508 in total spending to date for project 73324. It doesn’t break that total down by use. 26

Early in the meeting, Acting City Manager Matt Hawkesworth raised the possibility of redirecting the unspent bridge money to other priorities. He said Pasadena had made “the shortlist for an earmark potentially in the next budget cycle” for $4.5 million. Public Works Director Greg de Vinck described it as a shortlisted grant application and said redirecting the bridge money would leave Pasadena without the required matching funds.31

Later, Councilmember Rick Cole asked how much Pasadena had already spent and whether the remaining money would pay for a finished barrier. City Engineer Brent Maue said the remaining money was expected to cover the design. Construction would need additional funding. He estimated construction at roughly $4 million. 31

Federal funding remained uncertain. Rep. Judy Chu’s published request for fiscal year 2027 listed $4 million for the bridge. A House committee report dated June 5, 2026, recommended $1 million. The records don’t establish whether the $4.5 million discussed in April referred to that request or what “shortlist” meant. Pasadena’s project page continued to say construction funding hadn’t been identified. 31, 34

The schedule slipped again. In its third-quarter report for fiscal year 2026, the City pushed the expected Public Safety Committee presentation into the fourth quarter. The year-end report, covering work through June 30, said Pasadena Heritage was still reviewing the concepts and listed the design phase as ongoing.26 Pasadena Heritage helped develop and review concepts, but a permanent design still needed City Council approval.4 By then, the City had spent $1,475,508, or 51% of the $2,874,000 set aside for the design-phase project. Its target completion date remained June 30, 2028, but the report no longer said when the project would return to the committee.26

The Public Safety Committee has a new chair, Vice Mayor Jess Rivas, with Hampton, Jones, and Madison remaining as members.27 The official records reviewed here show no final permanent-design approval or construction award.26,27,28