Politics & Government

Crucial 710 Freeway Vote Goes Before Assembly Today

If passed, AB 353 would give the city of South Pasadena a veto on construction of any freeways, including the 710, through its jurisdiction.

The California State Assembly is today set to vote on AB 353, a measure that would essentially give the city of South Pasadena the power to kill the controversial 710 Freeway, a major transportation construction project that they argue would negatively impact communities across Northeast Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley.

If passed, the bill gives the city of South Pasadena the right to veto any freeway construction project within its jurisdiction.

In the last week, South Pasadena Mayor Mike Ten has been urging community leaders that would be affected by the 710 to lobby the State Assembly in favor of AB 353.

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"This is important for all those concerned about the tunnel and freeway and for those who want to make sure it doesn't come through their community," Mayor Mike Ten told Patch early Wednesday morning. "They [the cities of South Pasadena, Los Angeles, Pasadena and Alhambra] currently don't have a right to say no; they need to know that there is a bill coming on Monday."

Residents of Highland Park have long stood next to South Pasadenans in their fight against the 710 freeway, which they argue would have negative environmental and commerical impacts on residents.

Find out what's happening in Eagle Rockwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Last December, the also voted unanimously against the proposed 710 toll tunnel, which would stretch some four miles from Mount Washington to Glassell Park and, as the ERNC described it in its resolution, "decimate neighborhoods beyond recognition, dislocate many of our citizenry and disrupt life for those remaining for more than a decade."

More recently, on March 30, residents of Northeast Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley attended the last in a series of public meetings that Metro Los Angeles is required to hold in its latest effort to earn a valid Environmental Impact Statement for the SR-710 project. Community members urged Metro at the meeting to consider alternatives to expanding the 710 freeway.

While Ten also opposes the 710 freeway, he is undecided about the tunnel. 

"I've always been against the freeway; I fought it when I was in high school, and I'm fighting it again today," he said. "The concept of the tunnel is promising, but all that will come out in scoping."

In December, the HHPNC wrote a letter to the Los Angeles MTA board officially stating its opposition to the freeway project. 

"We join the Cities of Glendale, South Pasadena and La Canada Flintridge, the Neighborhood Councils of Arroyo Seco [which represents the neighborhood of Mount Washington], Glassell Park and Sunland Tujunga, as well as many other community groups and government entities, in urging the Los Angeles City Council to take a stronger stand against this destructive, ineffective project, currently estimated to cost in the range of $14 billion," Gossett read. 

State assemblyman Gil Cedillo is carrying this year's repeal bill. His office expects the bill to clear the committee without amendments next week, according to Neon Tommy.

While the passage of AB 353 would give South Pasadena's city council the power to veto the construction of the 710 through their city, it would not necessarily kill the project in all of it's forms.

For example, L.A. Metro has also proposed five tunnel construction zones, one of which would bypass South Pasadena and be built directly below several Los Angeles communities.

Continue to check Patch throughout the day as we follow this developing story.

Eagle Rock Patch editor Ajay Singh contributed to this story.


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