Public Invited to Go 'On the Record' Regarding SR-710 Project

Highland Park and Mount Washington residents on Wednesday will have an opportunity to go "on the record" with their alternatives to Metro Los Angeles' proposed extension of State Route 710, a project that many residents of Northeast Los Angeles believe could have significant negative environmental impacts on their communities.

The meeting, titled “Scoping – Going on the Record,” will be held on Wednesday, April 6, from 6 until 8 p.m. at .

Wednesday's meeting is set to be the final in the third series of "On the Record" meetings held in communities across the San Gabriel Valley and Northeast Los Angeles.

Scoping, the process through which public comments are put on record, is part of Metro's larger environmental impact review (EIR) process for its proposed extension of SR-710.

For decades, Metro and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) have identified "the gap" between SR-210 in Alhambra and SR-710 in Pasadena as the source of major traffic congestion in the San Gabriel Valley and Northeast Los Angeles, and have endeavored to relieve that pressure by proposing to connect the two freeways with a multi-lane surface freeway, and more recently, through an underground tunnel.

One of the proposed tunnel routes (see box on the right) would run directly beneath the neighborhoods of Highland Park and Mount Washington.

Residents have fought bitterly to oppose any "gap closure" project, and have insisted that Metro and Caltrans instead investigate multi-mode alternatives, which include heavy rail and bus/light rail systems, local street upgrades and traffic management systems.

In December, both the and passed resolutions stating their opposition to any freeway or tunnel project. The South Pasadena City Council has passed several resolutions opposing such projects, with the latest resolution featuring the anti-freeway or tunnel language.

An amendment passed by the MTA board last spring requires that Metro consider those "multi-mode" options during the EIR process.

The amendment, which was proposed by MTA board member Richard Katz, calls for the scoping process to "include a full range of new, route-neutral transportation options, (which eventually will be included in a cost benefit analysis), alternative analyses, and all necessary environmental studies to allow policy makers, stakeholders and the public to make well-informed decisions about options to 1) improve mobility, safety and congestion, 2) address community concerns and 3) augment planning efforts."

In a press release announcing the upcoming meetings, Metro has declared that they were taking a "fresh perspective to initiate an environmental review process that will focus on a range of solutions to specifically evaluate the effects of the SR 710 gap."

As reported on South Pasadena Patch in February, Metro has faced some during previous community meetings regarding the SR-710 project.

At one of those meetings, Mount Washington resident Carol Teutsch criticized Metro for failing to adequately investigate alternatives other than a surface freeway or tunnel.

"It makes me embarrassed to see how this process works," Teutsch said "This is a 50 year old solution. There is tremendous inertia to do things the same way.”

Concerned residents can register their comments at Wednesday's meetings on online until April 14.

Helen Ortiz Gilstrap, Metro's communications manager, said it was too early to rule out any "gap closure" solution, including the freeway or tunnel options.

"It's too early to tell because scooping is not over yet, and we'll be taking comments until April 14," Ortiz Gilstrap said. "We have communities who want nothing and we have others who say, please do something, even after scoping is done, the EIR could take three to five years. The important part is getting community input."