Tunnel Opponents Swarm Alhambra's Pro-710 Event

As the City of Alhambra closed down a main thoroughfare Wednesday, promoting the importance of the 710 freeway extension with a live band, information booths and food trucks, opponents of the decades-long issue handed out literature to the contrary. 

Sporting a T-shirt and hat with a red lines through the 710 logo, South Pas resident Sam Burgess said extending the 710 freeway to the 210 freeway via a tunnel is not a South Pasadena issue or Alhambra issue, but a regional one that would affect multiple communities including El Sereno, Highland Park, La Cañada, San Marino and Pasadena, to name a few. 

"It's an environmental disaster waiting to happen,'' said Burgess, a member of the No 710 Action Committee, which has members from communities all over the San Gabriel Valley.

To see a video of how both sides weighed in, please click here. 

The issue of the 710 extension has divided local cities for years — South Pasadena and La Canada Flintridge have been staunchly opposed, while San Marino's City Council voted to support the extension.  Members of the Pasadena City Council voted to oppose the tunnel as well but failed to convince a majority of the Council.

The Sierra Madre City Council has also voted against the tunnel and Glendale officials have raised concerns about its potential impact on Montrose.  The Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council also voted to oppose it.  

On Wednesday, as Burgess walked through the crowd handing out cards brimming with statistics gleaned from the SR 710 North Study and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority SR-710 Analysis Report, Alhambra Councilman Luis Ayala answered reporters' questions about why the city is in favor of the project. Alhambra has long favored an extension of the 710, via a surface street or a tunnel. 

"It's absolutely the best alternative for not just Alhambra, but for surrounding communities,'' he said, adding that Alhambra is most impacted by the 710 gap because the freeway ends in his city. 

"Based on their study, Metro's study of the completion of the 710 gap...a tunnel is by far the most effective in terms of reducing congestion. I like facts to speak for themselves. I've looked at all the facts. This seems to be the most practical solution,'' Ayala said. 

To that, No 710 Action Committee members Jim Miller and Tom Williams shake their heads. The long time opponents, each armed with rebuttal statistics that equate a tunnel to increased congestion on city streets and link a freeway extension to adverse health conditions, such as asthma, challenge Alhambra residents to look up the facts. 

Speaking overtop the Cars cover band, Drive, Miller called Wednesday's event by the city "a circus'': a place for people to eat and play games, but he doubts the residents have all the facts. 

Which is exactly why, Ayala said, the city held the event.

"We wanted to have an informational community type of event so that residents and folks interested in the issue could get more information.''

Several event attendees approached by a reporter declined to weigh in or be identified, saying they were just enjoying the day. Three men in "Close the Gap'' shirts also declined to be interviewed, but said they weren't surprised that proponents and opponents had thus far been walking by each other in peace. 

"It's not like there's a beer truck here. That might be a whole different story,'' a "Close the Gap'' shirt wearer stated. 

To read more about both sides of the 710 issue, please visit www.cityofalhambra.org and No710.com. To see a list of upcoming Metro and Caltrans meetings, please click here. 

Related:

Alhambra Councilman: 710 Tunnel 'Most Practical Solution'