http://sierramadretattler.blogspot.com: Residents of
Sierra Madre should be strongly opposed to
Metro and whoever's interests they are working for when it comes to plowing under vast stretches of the
Pasadenas in order to add 4 additional miles to the
710 Freeway. By connecting the
San Gabriel Valley's 210 Freeway with the
710 "
Cancer Alley"
Corridor, one of the truly significant ecological disaster areas in the United States,
Metro would be endangering the health and quality of life of everyone living here.
What exactly is it that makes this such a danger to Sierra Madre and all of the other communities located along the 210 Freeway? Simply put, connecting the 710 to the 210 would funnel vast quantities of highly toxic diesel truck traffic from the ports in Long Beach and Los Angeles and right into our neighborhoods. And as anyone who is aware of just how bad things are in the 710 Corridor
now in this regard, imagine how it will be once the connector is
finished. The combined freeways would become the one major conduit
connecting these ports to the inland distribution centers of the
hundreds billions of dollars in cheap imported goods being shipped into
the United States every month. The effects here would be environmentally
catastrophic.
In case you are wondering why Metro, Caltrans
and the subservient politicians that enable them have suddenly decided
that connecting the 710 to the 210 is such a burning priority in these
cash-strapped times, the reasons could very well be economic. Those
nations currently holding trillions of dollars in U.S. debt want more
efficient and cost effective ways of getting their products into the
still quite lucrative American market. The result being that their
enabling debtors in Washington DC and Sacramento can't move fast enough in the effort to please them.
Could this be possible contributing factor to why Sacramento can find it in their hearts to take away billions of dollars in school funding, yet still come up with the money to build a 710-210 connector tunnel? I suspect so. It is just a matter of figuring out who these people really work for. Certainly it appears that would not be us.
Then
there are those who just don't want to see their neighborhoods
destroyed so that the freeway extension can be built. The frontline
cities in the fight to stop this ruinous boondoggle have very immediate
reasons for their opposition, and that is saving their homes and
neighborhoods. And as two articles currently up on the Pasadena Star News website show, people are very angry.
Tempers flare in Pasadena over 710 (click here)
- Angered residents filled the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple Wednesday
evening to voice their opposition to a proposed 710 Freeway route that
would carve through the upscale San Rafael neighborhood. The residents
jeered a battery of Metropolitan Transit Authority consultants
dispatched by the agency to allay fears that the state has immediate
plans to transform a portion of their neighborhood into six lanes of
asphalt highway.
As the crowd
grew agitated, a Metro consultant said they needed to keep quiet or
leave. Long-time San Rafael resident nancy Youngblut wanted to turn the
request into a political statement. She's right. If you want to save
your home, we should get up and walk out now," Youngblut said.
It is rather telling that the somewhat less than courageous folks running Metro
did not attend this particular meeting, choosing instead to pay
consultants to do that dirty work for them. And what was the message
their mercenary test-crash dummies delivered for them?
Metro
officials insisted Wednesday that no definite plans for finishing the
freeway are being hatched, but the agency is pressing forward with
schematics and is bust eliminating the less likely route alternatives,
officials said.
In other words, they
are working hard to find out which possible routes will cause the
greatest amounts of political difficulty for them, which will by
inference then indicate where they can possibly get away with building
the 710-210 Connector. By floating the idea that surface routes through politically potent places like San Rafael are a possibility, Metro can then propose the 710 Tunnel
as the compromise solution to everyone's concern. There is a definite
"divide and conquer" aspect in this, and people need to recognize it.
When State Assembly candidate and longtime Pasadena City Councilmember Chris Holden stated that he is opposed to building "surface routes" connecting the 710 with the 210, he also by inference lent his support to the Metro's so-called "710 Solution." Which is, and always has been, building the tunnel.
And where exactly are the courageous politicians that purport to run
Pasadena on these matters? According to another
Star News article today entitled "
Pasadena residents express strong opposition to 710 plan" (
click here), the answer is running away as fast as their feet can take them.
Many
accused the council of shying away from the issue and asked for an
official opinion against the proposals, citing the South Pasadena City
Council's firm stance as an example.
"In
South Pasadena the city councilmen are behind (the residents) 100
percent, they were fighting together on one side against the 710 issue,"
said San Rafael resident Ronda Dagher. "I think it would make a big
difference ... we elect them to protect us, to protect our interests."
Too bad the Pasadena City Council can't do the Metro two-step and send in consultants to take their seats when any 710-210 Connector questions come up.
One thing that we can definitely do now is make certain to vote for candidates this fall that openly oppose the building of the 710-210 Connector in any form, be it tunnel, surface route or suspended from dirigibles. So far we do know that Assembly candidate Chris Holden supports construction of the environmentally ruinous the 710 tunnel, while his opponent, Donna Lowe, has clearly stated that she opposes building the 710-210 Connector, and in any form.
Now
we need to find out where the rest of the candidates stand. Be sure to
hold their feet to the fire every time you get the chance.
http://sierramadretattler.blogspot.com