In 1876 a general store and post office opened at the corner of Colorado and Fair Oaks, and the dirt road then called Colorado Street became the center of a town. Fifty years later, in 1926, the new U.S. Route 66 was routed onto that same street, and for decades traffic headed west passed through Pasadena on it. The highway turns 100 on November 11, 2026. Four days later, on Sunday, November 15, the city closes a 2.7-mile route to cars that runs along Colorado Boulevard from Pasadena Avenue to Allen Avenue and along part of Raymond Avenue.
Pasadena marks the centennial with a short run of events along a single corridor, and the biggest one asks residents to cover the old highway at walking speed.
Four dates, one street
The week's Route 66 and Colorado Boulevard events line up nearly end to end:
- Wednesday, Nov. 11. Route 66 turns 100.
- Thursday, Nov. 12, 7 to 8:30 p.m. "Route 66: Travelers and Tribes" at the Pasadena Museum of History, 470 W. Walnut St. Shawn Price, a historian and director of the Dine'Tah Navajo Cultural Program, will talk about the highway's economic impact on tribal communities. Tickets are $18, or $13 for museum members.
- Saturday, Nov. 14, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Route 66 Trivia at Wild Parrot Brewing Company, 2302 E. Colorado Blvd., hosted by the museum. It's free and needs no RSVP.
- Sunday, Nov. 15, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. CicLAvia—Pasadena, a free, car-free open-streets day on Colorado Boulevard and Raymond Avenue.
The trivia night and the museum sit at opposite ends of Sunday's route, and the city's temporary bike connections reach toward both. The western connection runs along Walnut Avenue, the museum's street. The eastern one follows Colorado Boulevard past Allen Avenue toward San Gabriel Boulevard and Lamanda Park, the part of East Colorado where Wild Parrot sits. If you go to Saturday's trivia night, you'll have been to the far east end of the corridor before Sunday's closure begins.
What the museum puts on the wall
The Pasadena Museum of History opened Where History Meets the Road: Celebrating Route 66 & Colorado Boulevard on June 13, and it runs through January 24, 2027. It treats the boulevard as both a transportation corridor and a cultural symbol, and it uses memorabilia and photographs to trace how roadside culture shaped the city's streets, businesses and preservation efforts.
Pasadena Heritage recorded four new oral histories for the show from people with firsthand experience of Colorado Boulevard. The exhibition also includes part of Claremont Graduate University's Route 66 Pathway Project, a canvas scroll 70 feet long and five feet high that illustrates the California route from the Santa Monica coast to Needles at the state's eastern border. Its design draws on National Old Trails Road map booklets the Southern California Automobile Association printed in 1915.
Sunday's clock, hour by hour
The event runs six hours, but the street is affected for much longer than that. The City of Pasadena and CicLAvia have posted this schedule:
| Time on Nov. 15 | What happens |
|---|---|
| 4 a.m. | No parking on the main route or the Slow Streets; towing enforced |
| As early as 6 a.m. | Streets near the activity hubs may close |
| 7 a.m. | Main route closes to cars; driveways opening onto it are blocked |
| 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. | CicLAvia runs |
| About 5 p.m. | Route reopens; parking restrictions end |
The main route covers Colorado Boulevard from Pasadena Avenue to Allen Avenue and Raymond Avenue from Pacific Alley to Dayton Street. It runs through Old Pasadena, Playhouse Village and the South Lake Avenue area, and it links Metro's Memorial Park and Del Mar stations. CicLAvia's event page lists both A Line stations as less than 0.1 mile from the route, so Metro is the easiest way in without a car.
Cars can cross the route at six intersections. CicLAvia marks them on the event map and doesn't list them anywhere else, so check the map before you plan a Sunday drive across town. The two Slow Streets work differently from the main route. They stay open to cars, with traffic cones and signs separating bikes from car traffic, but parking on them is still banned from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m.
If your driveway opens onto Colorado
Residents on the route will notice the closure most. Pasadena Now reported that driveways opening directly onto the car-free route will be blocked from about 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. According to CicLAvia's rules as reported there, people who live or work directly on the route may be reimbursed up to $20 per vehicle for parking costs incurred between 8 p.m. on Nov. 14 and 5 p.m. on Nov. 15, with receipts due within 30 days. If a car on the route is needed Sunday morning, move it Saturday night. Streets next to the route stay open to local traffic for residents and businesses.
Some wheels aren't allowed. E-scooters, electric skateboards, hoverboards and electric unicycles are banned. Class 1 pedal-assist e-bikes are allowed. Class 2 e-bikes can ride with the throttle off, and Class 3 e-bikes with pedal assist off. Manual and motorized wheelchairs are welcome. There's no start or finish line, and you can join the route at any point.
Both activity hubs offer restrooms, water refills, basic bike repair, bike parking, first aid and free pedicab rides. One is at Memorial Park, 145 N. Raymond Ave., and the other at 1778 E. Colorado Blvd., near Allen Avenue. They sit roughly at the two ends of the Colorado stretch, so the hub is the natural turnaround point for a round trip.
Eleven years of new storefronts
Colorado Boulevard.net notes that Pasadena's last CicLAvia was in May 2015. In the city's release, CicLAvia Executive Director Romel Pascual said, "It's been 11 years since CicLAvia held a Pasadena event," and called this year's event a showcase for "one of the busiest boulevards with a car-free experience." A lot has opened along the route since then, some of it only this summer.
According to a Pasadena Now roundup from August, Tierra Caliente soft-opened at 115 E. Colorado Blvd. on July 24. Milk Brew held its grand opening at 263 E. Colorado Blvd. on Aug. 1 and 2. The Daily Catch had its ribbon cutting at 927 E. Colorado Blvd. on July 16. Mammoth Coffee Roasting Co. opened July 20 at 183 N. Fair Oaks Ave., a short walk north of Colorado.
Several businesses on or near the route have posted CicLAvia-day offers on the event page:
- The Bar Method–Pasadena, 32 Mills Place: free class passes
- Bokãos Aveda, 52 Hugus Alley: free sidewalk consultations and styling, 15% off, and an extensions giveaway
- Jenette Bras, 18 E. Holly St.: $50 gift certificates for the first 10 attendees and 15% off sports garments
- Carbon Health, 600 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 120: water, Liquid I.V., first-aid supplies and priority walk-in care
- Strong Sports Gym, 985 E. Colorado Blvd.: store open with mini-lessons
- Tea Spots, 1443 Colorado Blvd.: 10% off for Pasadena residents
The Old Pasadena Management District and the Playhouse Village Association have both backed the event. In Playhouse Village, Vroman's Bookstore at 695 E. Colorado Blvd. was founded in 1894. It's the oldest independent bookstore in Southern California, it sits across the street from the Pasadena Playhouse, and it has Tepito Coffee and the 1894 wine bar inside. Playhouse Village's anniversary guide also points to Home Brewed Bar and 7 Tea, two Playhouse Village stops on Visit Pasadena's Route 66 boba trail.
Transit details for the day may still change. As of mid-October, Metro and Pasadena Transit hadn't posted Nov. 15 service notices, so check Pasadena Transit's service alerts and Metro's A Line alerts the week of the event.
If you live near Colorado Boulevard and want to know how a car-free Sunday, a new corridor of shops or a centennial year shows up on your own block, Valdez Realty Group has neighborhood specialists who follow these streets closely. Talk to a local real estate expert before the closures start on Nov. 15.
