Guest Opinion | Mayor Victor Gordo & Councilmember Steve Madison: 710 Reasons to Celebrate

On behalf of our entire community, our City Council colleagues and City staff, we have many reasons to celebrate the significant milestone of the relinquishment of the 710 freeway corridor. On June 29, 2022, the California Transportation Commission returned over 50 acres of property to its rightful owners – the people of Pasadena as part of the relinquishment agreement. After decades of uncertainty we can now focus on re-envisioning the 710 stub and re-stitching our City.

We want to thank the California Transportation Commission, its Chair Emeritus Hilary Norton, CalTrans and its Director Tony Tavares, Senator Anthony Portantino, the Pasadena Department of Transportation, former Mayor Bill Bogaard and Claire Bogaard, Mic Hansen and the thousands of Pasadena residents who have fought for many years to make this dream a reality.

Many have always thought of the 710 stub as a gateway to the beautiful neighborhoods in West Pasadena – and that it is! Having said that, let’s keep in mind the stub is also an important access corridor to Huntington Hospital and a transit corridor and gateway to our historic business district, Old Pasadena. And, importantly, the stub previously was home to diverse residents, businesses, and churches, and relinquishment offers an opportunity for repatriation. All of these interests will need to be balanced as we look towards the future and relevant future uses.

Our next steps will include forming a multi-disciplinary, community-driven visioning process to layout the future transportation network, land use, and utility infrastructure network needed to reconnect Pasadena. This will also involve virtually all city of Pasadena departments who will have a part moving forward with the maintenance, ownership, responsibility and liability including meeting the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) standards.

We are deeply grateful to Senator Anthony Portantino who authored Bill SB7 and opened the door for our successful negotiations with Caltrans over the past year. The model set forth by Pasadena and Caltrans built upon the spirit of SB7 and can serve as a model for reconnecting communities throughout California.

Our City has always taken pride in our great coordination and collaboration with our community and partner agencies. Our commitment to all Pasadena residents is to keep you updated and ensure a vigorous public process that allows all residents to actively participate as we re-imagine this part of Pasadena.