Reconnecting Communities 710 Advisory Group Plays Key Role in Pasadena’s Transportation Planning

The Reconnecting Communities 710 Advisory Group is convening for a special meeting on Thursday, Oct. 26, to listen to a recap of the “One Year Update on Relinquished Area” presentation made to the California Transportation Commission last week, and to a planning presentation, titled “Specific Plans as an Implementation Tool for the 710 Study Area.” 

The 710 Advisory Group was created by the City Council to assist in the development of a comprehensive planning document that will help lay out a vision for the property. 

This section of the SR-710 North was constructed over several years in the early 1970s and displaced at least 4,000 residents and destroyed 1,500 homes.  A majority of the homes were owned or rented by low income and minority residents.

On August 15, 2015, Caltrans transferred the title to the property, which is about 60 acres in size. 

In February, the Department of Transportation announced four planning grants for California communities under the federal Reconnecting Communities program, setting aside $2 million for the North 710 Freeway Stub Re-envisioning Project in Pasadena. The funds were to be used to study transportation and land use needs near the “stub,” as it has been called. 

“The goal is to develop a collaborative plan for the sixty-acre site that considers redressing historic inequities, while coordinating land use, housing, and transportation needs that are reflective of the city’s existing and future population,” the Department of Transportation said in the announcement. 

With the planning presentation on specific plans for the 710 study area, the advisory group hopes to finalize a report that would help the City Council formulate policies and establish goals and objectives for the site. 

At the meeting, historian consultants working with the city will also provide an update examining the impacts of freeways and other mechanisms on historical data, segregation and demographics in Pasadena. 

The special meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Robinson Park Recreation Center’s Multipurpose Room, located at 1081 North Fair Oaks Ave. 

For more information, visit www.cityofpasadena.net/city-manager/reconnecting-communities-710-advisory-group/.