710 Freeway Opponents to Protest During July 4th Parade

Recognizing that residents from South Pasadena have been fighting the 710 freeway extension through town for 60 years, the No 710 Action Committee will march in protest during the Fourth of July parade. 

OPening ceremonies for the Festival of Balloons, which begins at 10:30 a.m. on the steps of the South Pasadena Library Community Room, will include a contingent of 710 opponents from Alhambra, Altadena, Glendale, La Cañada, La Crescenta and San Marino, according to Joanne Nuckols.

The decades-long freeway battle dates to 1947 when the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Caltrans and its predecessors have proposed, studied and advocated for the building the freeway through the heart of South Pas, a press release states. The proposed freeway route would extend the 710 Freeway from the 10 Freeway in El Sereno at the Alhambra border to the 210 Freeway. 

"South Pasadena has been fighting the extension of the 710 Freeway for half of its 125-year existence as an incorporated city,'' Nuckols said in a prepared statement. The city celebrates it quasquicentennial this year. 

The proposal currently on the table is to bore one to 4.6-mile tunnels underneath South Pasadena and make it a tollway, threatening to divert additional traffic onto residential streets, opponents have argued. 

The parade, which features music, youth groups, kids on bicycles and a variety of participating organizations, runs the length of Mission Street from Meridian Avenue to Garfield Park in South Pas. The parade will begin following opening ceremonies, at about 11 a.m.