Mayor Mike Ten will Pitch A.B. 353 in Highland Park

Mayor Mike Ten will visit the Thursday (tonight) to request it join South Pasadena in supporting Assembly Bill 353. 

The bill—introduced by Assemblyman Gil Cedillo and currently in the State Senate—would essentially eliminate an existing exception that allows the Department of Transportation to construct a freeway through a municipality without coming to an agreement with the city council. 

Yet with residents in surrounding communities and even South Pasadena weary of the bill, Council member Philip Putnam explained at Wednesday's City Council meeting that A.B. 353 would only allow South Pas to negotiate a freeway agreement with Caltrans if the potential freeway would result in street closures. 

"So what this would do—obviously with regard to a surface route or a cut and cover tunnel—is allow South Pasadena to negotiate a freeway agreement," he explained. "If, in fact, they did design a tunnel that went underground in Alhambra and emerged in Pasadena with no off-ramps or other structures in South Pasadena that were going to result in a street closure, then it wouldn't apply by it's own terms."

Through the current law, the DOT can only build a freeway without a direct agreement with a presiding city council under a few conditions. First, an impasse must have existed for at least ten years after the freeway route was initially approved. Second, DOT must receive a valid Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and establish community outreach programs. 

"This bill would repeal these provision establish an exception for a freeway segment to be constructed without an agreement within the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority," according to Around the Capitol. 

Former South Pasadena Mayor Harry A. Knapp worries that amendments will be applied to A.B. 353. While he agrees that the bill is a "bad law" that isolates South Pas, he would not be in favor of an amendment that would work against his opposition of the tunnel. 

While South Pas Council members have supported writing a letter in favor of the measure, the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council ast week saying it needed more time to study what kind of impacts A.B. 353 would have for the city of Los Angeles. 

Janet Dodson of the Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council said she also had several questions for South Pasadena Mayor Mike Ten, who has been going around to several Los Angeles neighborhood councils in an effort to curry favor for the measure. 

The HHHPNC has already formally stated its opposition to both the construction of the the SR-710 extension, either by surface route or tunnel, but Dodson said they have reason to be curious about Ten's motivations. 

"The bill seems redundant, as there is already a federal injunction in place that prohibits the construction of the surface freeway," Dodson said. 

Further, Dodson said she needed to learn more about who the bill would impact Los Angeles, considering that an impasse over a freeway route has not existed for ten years, like it has in South Pasadena. 

She said she was also unsure how A.B. 353 would impact Metro's tunnel alternative. 

"We have gone on record as being against the construction of a tunnel," Dodson said, adding that Ten has made several comments in the past which suggest he would support a tunnel option. 

"He knows this," Dodson said. 

The Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council Meeting is scheduled for tonight (Thursday) at 7 p.m. at the Highland Park Senior Center on 6152 N. Figueroa St.