710 Extension: Residents Attend Final Meeting in South Pasadena

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority was met with hesitation and opposition during Wednesday’s final SR-710 conversation session in South Pasadena.

The meeting, titled “Scoping – Going on the Record,” was attended by roughly 40 people from South Pasadena and the neighboring communities of La Cañada Flintridge, Pasadena and Glendale.  Among them were South Pasadena City Council members Philip C. Putnam and Richard D. Schneider and City Clerk Sally Kilby.

The third series of meetings conducted by the MTA are aimed to gather input from the public as well as federal, state and local agencies for scoping purposes. Scoping, the process by which public suggestions are added to the environmental report on the SR-710, is required as part of the environmental review process approved by the MTA last spring.

According to the MTA, the proposed expansion project may include surface and subsurface freeway construction, heavy rail and bus/light rail systems, local street upgrades and traffic management systems. The MTA maintains that the objective of the project is to relieve congestion and improve mobility.

MTA officials encouraged all attendees to add their comments to the official record by filling out comment cards with their name and address or by making a 3-minute speech during the public comment portion of the event. A court reporter was on hand to insert the public comments into the official record.

Only three attendees chose to go on the record verbally. Jan Soohoo, a La Cañada Flintridge resident, challenged Metro to prove the proposed additional lanes on the SR-710 Freeway would indeed relieve traffic congestion.

Carol Teutsch, a Los Angeles resident, took the microphone to share her environmental concerns.

“Scientific studies have clearly shown that diesel combustion and proximity to highways or roadways with significant volumes of traffic has significant adverse impacts on health and many health issues,” Teutsch told the crowd. 

Teutsch also proposed that the MTA conduct thorough health risk and health impact assessments before moving forward with the expansion project.

The last four scoping meetings are scheduled to take place in the next two weeks in Pasadena, La Cañada Flintridge, El Sereno and Highland Park.

In addition to the SR-710 meetings held in local communities, Metro is currently conducting an interactive online open house comment station. The virtual meeting gives the public the opportunity to go on record for the next three weeks ending Thursday, April 14.

The public is also invited to email comments to sr710coversations@metro.net or mail comments to Ron Kosinski, Deputy District Director, Division of Environmental Planning, Caltrans District 7, 100 S. Main Street, MS 16A, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

Comments left on the SR-710 Conversations Facebook and Twitter pages will not be added to the official record.

For more details visit: http://events.unisfair.com/index.jsp?eid=1046&seid=30