Partial Street Closures Coming to Honolulu Ave. in Montrose Shopping Park

The Montrose Shopping Park Association board was presented with three difficult choices regarding upcoming road work the city of Glendale is planning for Honolulu Avenue. 

In order for crosswalks to be refurbished, the choices were: fully close Honolulu from Ocean View Boulevard to Orangedale Avenue for a whole day, as well as fully close Honolulu from Ocean View to Verdugo for another day; close traffic in one direction for five to seven days in the two areas; or, wait until next summer for the work to be done. 

These were the choices Armen Avazian of Glendale Public Works Department presented the board at its meeting on Thursday. Avazian said the city preferred the full closure, but numerous board members objected, so ultimatley the partial closure was agreed upon. 

The closures are part of a major street improvement program that has been happening around Montrose since late August. Click here for more information on the project. 

Business starts to pick up in the fall, and the idea of a full closure of Honolulu, even for one day, was simply too much to bear. 

"That’s a huge closure," said GiGi Garcia, owner of It Takes a Village…Kids. "People come and think that the shopping park is closed."

Kim Kelly, co-owner of Merle Norman Cosmetics, agreed that a full closure would have too negative of an impact on business. 

"When you closed off Honolulu and blocked off that north parking lot for two days, I should have closed my store on Monday," Kelly told Avazian. "People will not come if it is closed."

The partial closures are now scheduled to begin around Oct. 14, but the exact starting date would have to be worked out with the contractor, Dennis Ambayec of the Public Works Department said. Ambayec could not tell the board on Thursday what the dates would be but said he would inform them this week. 

The third option, Ambayec and Avazian expalined, would be to not do any work and wait until next summer when another street improvement project in the Sparr Heights area is scheduled to occur. Summer is a slower time for the shopping park area than the fall, several board members said. 

"If it was summer I could go for it," Garcia said."...You cannot close the block anymore. My business has already picked up."

The board fully discussed all the options and ultimately asked for the partial closures.