200 South Pasadenans Turn Out to Hear About Potential 710 Freeway Tunnel

Using an old basketball analogy, a panel of transportation and legal officials protected their home court during the SR-710 Community Workshop last week at South Pasadena Middle School, addressing the potential of a tunnel running below the surface of town.

The message left by one panelist, Delaine Shane, an environmental planning professional, was to get involved, urging residents to protect South Pasadena from the threat of the proposed 710 Freeway Tunnel. Following the March 6 release of the Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIR/EIS), which proposes five alternatives regarding a 4.5-mile gap in the 710 from its terminus just outside the Alhambra city limits to the 134/210 freeway interchange in Pasadena, Shane stressed the importance of 710 opponents to weigh in by attending public hearings for the Draft EIR/EIS and write letters opposing the underground project.

A fifth and final public hearing is scheduled for Saturday, June 20, at David Wark Griffith Middle School, 4765 East Fourth Street, East Los Angeles. A map viewing of the project is slated from 10 a.m. – 11 a.m., followed by a formal public hearing from 11a.m. to 4 p.m.

Not only was the tunnel concept addressed during the May 13 meeting inside the auditorium at South Pasadena Middle School, but four other alternatives considered in the Draft EIR/EIS were part of the conversation, including:

•No Build option that would leave conditions as they are today.
•A traffic management system to upgrade and synchronize signals and improvements to local street intersections to more quickly move traffic that exits the dead end freeway.
• A rapid bus line featuring high frequency service with minimal stops and potentially a dedicated bus lane.
• Light rail to carry passengers between East Los Angeles and Pasadena.

Nearly 200 people were in attendance as community members heard from Robert Joe, South Pasadena’s mayor; Antonio Rossmann, special counsel to the City of South Pasadena, who talked about the 710 Freeway’s long history; Margaret Lin, the city’s principal management analyst, who provided an update on the EIR//EIS; Avram D. Gold of the West Pasadena Residents’ Association, who spoke on the potential tunnel boring risks; Jeffrey Tumlin of Nelson Nygaard, who addressed EIR/EIR and the need for a multimodal vision of public transportation; and Shane, who asked audience members to submit comments about the five alternatives either online or through the mail.

“The goal of the meeting was to update our residents on the city’s position on the 710, about all the activity surrounding the issue regarding the EIR/EIS, the impacts involving all the alternatives and to let people know we’re not not only in a fight against a tunnel alone,” said South Pasadena City Manager Sergio Gonzalez. “We are building a coalition of other communities to talk about the big picture in transportation and regional mobility. It’s not about connecting two points with an underground tunnel that would cost billions of dollars and not solve the traffic issues we are facing.”

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