Cities Rally Around New Plans for Southern California’s Interstate 710

Steve Scauzillo reports that the long-running Interstate 710 saga has taken a new turn. Last year the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority killed a proposed tunnel project that would have run through the cities of El Sereno, South Pasadena, and Pasadena, closing the 4.5-mile gap between the 710 and Interstate 210.

Instead of the tunnel, an LA Metro committee last week approved $514 million of projects focused on local streets and traffic management. “The monies allocated for these and future projects were set aside for the freeway extension in Measure R, a half-cent transportation sales tax passed for Los Angeles County road, rail and transit-related projects in 2008. The 710 Freeway gap was earmarked for $780 million,” says Scauzillo.

The 34 projects include grade separation of the Gold Line in Pasadena and removal of lanes at the 710’s northern terminus. The city of Alhambra wants to look into the prospect of turning 51 acres of freeway space there into a regional park.

The projects still need to be approved by LA Metro’s board of directors. Caltrans also needs to sign off on the project alternatives, says Scauzillo.