Hello Neighbors:
After sending the below letter to our elected officials and members of Caltrans and Metro, I was encouraged to post it here on Patch. I'd love your feedback!
Best,
Peter Bedard
***
As a community activist, healer, and therapist, I find the idea of building the 710 Tollway extension to be disheartening.
Freeways are so 20th Century! We need to move beyond that and focus on bringing the potential and opportunities available to us into the now. Let's be authentic here, if the extension of the 710 Tollway is about moving people, then we know for a fact that cars are the least efficient and least cost effective way to do that.
After last night's meeting at Ramona Hall in Highland Park, it became clear that authenticity and transparency were not qualities being demonstrated by Caltrans or Metro.
I'm hoping that will change.
If the goal is to move cargo from the port of Los Angeles to shipping hubs inland then a 710 Tollway extension is also the least efficient way to do it. A rail-line can do this with less impact, less cost and with greater efficiency.
The cost of building a freeway, above or below ground, include broken communities, long term loss of business, lost homes, environmental degradation, reduced air quality and more.
In the world of the future, which starts today, a freeway/tollway is an idea that needs to be put to rest! It is time to live up to our potential as elected officials and community leaders to make choices and create opportunities that are good for the long term health and wellness of Los Angeles and all of Southern California! It's time to align with a future that is clean, environmentally sound and beneficial to all. A future that is supportive of everyone and that is representative of our highest potential! The time is now, and I encourage you to make choices that lead us with integrity in that direction!
710 Tollway - NO
LRT (Light Rail) - YES
BRT (Bus) - YES
Thanks,
Peter Bedard, MA, C.Ht.
