Following a over the possibility of new surface construction along the 710 Freeway corridor, the Metropolitan Transportation Agency is recommending that its board kill off the idea of a surface freeway extension that would connect the 710 to the 210 or 134 freeways.
According to Metro's blog, The Source, the agency's staff is recommending that the board vote to consider the following possibilities for future projects in the 710 corridor:
Bus rapid transit, light rail, a freeway tunnel, an alternative focused on expanded bus service, intersection and hot spot improvements, ridesharing and telecommuting and intelligent technology system improvements, and a no build option.
The Metro board next meets in September to consider whether or not to accept the staff recommendation - until the board has done so, there is still the possibility that the agency could choose to pursue a surface route.
The surface routes which Metro staff are recommending to be eliminated from consideration include surface routes that would have gone through Highland Park, Glassell Park and Mount Washington, Garvanza and San Rafael, and South Pasadena and El Sereno.
Opposition to those alternatives came from various sources including the Pasadena City Council, South Pasadena and the Highland Park Neighborhood Council.
All the alternatives have come up as Metro has been working on completing an Environmental Impact Report statement, which would allow them to build the project. In the past, the agencies' efforts to extend the SR-710 by surface route have been thwarted by the Federal Highway Administration, which has prompted Metro and Caltrans to consider several above and underground options in this latest round.
The next State Route 710 EIR meeting will held 9 a.m. Wednesday, August 29, 2012 at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in the Board Room. See the agenda and staff recommendation attached.
jjones
"Ever since the USC Keston 710 Financing Planning Charrette in 2007, the goal has remained the same: a 4.5 mile bored highway tunnel along the meridian route whose primary purpose is to facilitate goods movement from the ports. The politic ians, tunnel borers, Wall Street financiers and Metro and Caltrans staff got together and decided on their desired outcome almost 5 years ago. Everything else that has happened along the way has just been window dressing - their eyes are, and have always been, on the prize first articulated in this document: http://www.usc.edu/schools/price/keston/documents/710FinancingCharretteFinalReport_001.pdf" Equally remarkable in the face of all the evidence that goods movement is what is driving the project, none of the 42 original alternatives addressed goods movement. They ignored freight-to-rail, or more specifically, freight-to-electrified rail --- a desirable option that is being used all over the world.
When I stand on a bridge over the 5 I see a lot of trucks but mostly cars. Just because YOU don't know anybody who lives/works in Bellflower, Downey, Norwalk, Lakewood, Orange County that needs to get to the San Fernando Valley and Santa Clarita Valley and beyond it doesn't mean these people don't exist. There are millions of people who live in these areas and a few hundred thousand make the trip every day. Right now there are only two freeways to connect north and south Los Angeles. The 5 FWY and the 405 FWY and each one carries 300,000 cars a day and they are considered two of the most congested freeways in the country. The completion of 710/210 would give us a third option, one that goes outside of downtown. Look at the map: http://tinyurl.com/la-north-south A city of 10 million could use 3 freeways instead of 2 going north/south. The beauty of it is that we have one 97% built. We just need to finish the last 3-4 miles. Statistics source: ( http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0931285.html )
Public comment and participation in the EIR/S process has been stifled and this is one way to let our views be known. Please attend and be part of the process. The more public in the audience the better to send a message to Metro. The hundreds of citizens protesting at the meetings in the last few weeks has not gone unnoticed by Metro and the press.
The anti-710 people on one hand argue that NOBODY needs the freeway except the truckers (who work for some fat cats in China) on the other hand if the freeway is built it will be so popular that will be congested from day one.
That should serve our grandchildren well.