Officials hold a sign at the Arroyo Seco Dedication (Photo – Chris Holden Office)
Last week, on the anniversary of the 1972 Foothill Freeway Tragedy, Assemblymember Chris Holden unveiled a freeway sign to commemorate the six victims and presented a resolution to their family members.
By News Desk
On October 17, 1972 faulty scaffolding on a 60-foot stretch of the Foothill Freeway collapsed while concrete was being poured for the bridge construction, burying workers who were under the construction at the time of the collapse. Assembly Concurrent Resolution 250 (ACR 250), chaptered in 2018, designates the North Arroyo Boulevard Overcrossing in Pasadena, just south of Devil’s Gate dam, as the “Arroyo Seco Victims Memorial Overpass.”
“It means a great deal to me to be able to give these family members a sense of closure and peace. Rafael Gonzalez, son of the late Hector Delgado Gonzalez, shared words about his father and the impact of his death. Those words will stick with me forever. This is an unimaginable pain that their family has lived with for over 50 years and if I have offered even an ounce of relief then I feel I have done my job,” said Assemblymember Chris Holden.
In 2017, Rafael Gonzalez reached out to Holden’s office to bring honor to his father and the other five men who worked alongside him and were killed when they fell 90 feet and were entombed in cement during the construction of the bridge.
The six men were:
- Jesus Quinonez,
- Richard Calleros,
- Frank Scharf,
- Robert Queenan,
- James Glass,
- and Hector Delgado Gonzalez.
The six men had not received any recognition for their sacrifice before the signing of ACR 250. Now a freeway sign labeled “Arroyo Seco Victims Memorial Overpass” is placed along the 210 Freeway for drivers to see each day as they pass over the site of the tragedy.
(L-R) Asmb. Chris Holden and Rafael Gonzalez, son of the late Hector Delgado Gonzalez (Photo – Chris Holden Office)
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