Posted Apr 12, 2015, 4:14 AM
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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Quote:
Most at first 710 Freeway gap hearing favor building tunnel
MONTEREY PARK >> At the first public hearing on closing the 4.5-mile 710 Freeway gap since the release of a key environmental report, most speakers on Saturday favored building a tunnel and vehemently opposed a light-rail system.
“I live two blocks from where the 710 Freeway ends at Valley Boulevard and the traffic is horrendous there. I’m hoping the tunnel will go through and take cars off Alhambra streets,” testified Carol Jones, Alhambra resident.
Caltrans and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) spent four years at a cost of $40 million studying different ways to move traffic from one freeway stub — at Valley Boulevard in Alhambra — to the other near Del Mar Avenue in Pasadena, where the freeway would connect to the 210/134 interchange. The resulting Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement looks at five options: a no-build option; a traffic management system that would upgrade streets and sync traffic signals at local intersections to move traffic more quickly; a dedicated busway with high-frequency service and few stops; a 7.5-mile light-rail line that would stretch from East Los Angeles to Pasadena and a 6.3-mile freeway tunnel, of which 4.2 miles would be completely underground.
Of the 51 speakers, most thought continuing the freeway via a tunnel under El Sereno, Alhambra, South Pasadena and Pasadena would alleviate the most traffic — echoing the same conclusion contained in the 26,000-page EIR/EIS, released March 6.
“It is imperative we get this done. The best alternative is a dual-bore tunnel,” said David Thomas.
Brian Lewin said residents of southeast Los Angeles and the western San Gabriel Valley have suffered through heavier traffic on local streets for half a century due to a freeway that starts in Long Beach but ends abruptly in Alhambra. His mother was told her house in El Sereno would be taken for a freeway — that was in 1959, he said.
“This has gone incomplete for far too long. The only thing we need to do is finish this,” said Lewin, who lives in Rosemead.
Besides private citizens, local elected officials testified in favor of a tunnel.
“A tunnel improves the regional transportation system and you will also improve the air quality in the region,” said San Marino Mayor Eugene Sun.
Monterey Park City Councilwoman Teresa Real-Sebastian said extending the 710 is not just about Alhambra or South Pasadena but is a regional issue. “The 710 was never intended to end on Valley Boulevard; anyone who lives in any of these cities knows all that extra traffic spills onto our communities, where we work, where we play. The tunnel is the only option that will get mobility back on track,” she said.
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http://www.sgvtribune.com/general-ne...uilding-tunnel
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