From Sylvia Plummer, September 16, 2013
Article on 710 EIR/EIS that will appear in the South Pasadena Review on Wednesday.
The environmental
Impact Report (EIR) for the “Gap Closure” project to connect the 710 South to
the I-210 is moving forward like a giant
bulldozer. The Metropolitan
Transportation Agency (MTA) will let nothing stand in its way. MTA will finish the study recommending the
construction of the 6.3 mile underground tunnel. The agency conducting the study says they are
considering five different options to end congestion on our streets and
freeways, but this is a sham. The EIR is being conducted by a firm hired by
the MTA and it is funded by Measure R Funds (1/2cent sales tax in LA County for
thirty years). The cost of the study is
37 million dollars. Though the MTA is funding
the EIR Caltrans says they have the final say.
We all know that the
LA County freeways are congested during rush hours. The data generated up to this time showing
improvement in our freeways and local streets is somewhat sparse. Their studies say 61,000 vehicles will be
taken off the I-5 through the downtown segment in the year 2035 if two tunnels
are bored with four lanes in each direction and no tolls are charged. The
benefits to the 10, 60, 210, 101, 405, or the 110 are much more modest (perhaps
15,000 vehicles for all the other freeways).
The data showing reduction on our local streets (Fair Oaks, Fremont, &
Garfield) is very suspect. They say that
with a two tunnel connector and no tolls that 75, 000 cars will be taken off
the local streets. They include such
streets as Rosemead, San Gabriel Boulevard, los Robles, Eagle Rock Boulevard,
and other unnamed streets. These streets
are a long way from the proposed tunnel.
And by the way this
tunnel is not to be a freeway, but a toll way.
The public will have to cough up $5-$15 for each trip though the trucks passing
through the tunnel of course will pay more.
They have never provided a real cost estimate for the construction of
the tunnel. One estimate is 3.6
Billion. This only covers the cost of
the boring, not the other costs or the cost of operation. Other estimates have been as high as 14
billion! Whatever the cost is it will be
borne by the public. They say that they
will create a Public Private Partnership (PPP) that will build and pay for the
tunnel. But remember that the PPP
recoups its money from tolls. If the
cost of trucking goods goes up with these tolls the public’s cost of buying
goods in the store will go up.
No one is listening
to the public or the scientists who tell us that the connection will bring air pollution
and disease with it. Good studies show
that there is an increased incidence of cancer related to the 710 South as well
as asthma in children. There are several
other diseases that have been said to be associated with poor air quality
(heart disease, strokes, autism, etc.).
The firm conducting the study tells us that the air will be
“scrubbed.” Scrubbers can take out the
visible particles we see from trucks, but it is the stuff you can’t see that is
just as harmful. There is no scrubber
built that takes out ultra-fine particulate matter, or ozone, or nitrous oxides,
or unburned fuel.
It is not to be said
that the construction of the tunnel can’t be stopped. It can be stopped by our elected officials or
the courts. The recently election of
Eric Garcetti as mayor of Los Angeles gives hope. When he was a LA City councilman he voted and
sponsored a resolution against the 710 tunnel in Northwest LA. In his campaign he spoke out against the
Tunnel. The MTA board is composed of 13
voting members. Garcetti controls four
votes and longtime tunnel foe Ara Najarian is a fifth vote. It will take seven votes to stop the tunnel.
The courts have
never looked with favor on the 710 North project. They twice have issued injunctions in 1973
and 1999, which remain in force, to stop the project. The EIR is filled with errors and faulty
assumptions. Their reasoning and logic
in conducting the study is outright wrong.
It will take money to hire lawyers to stop the Tunnel in the
courts. There is a coalition of cities opposing
the tunnel. Among those are the Cities
of South Pasadena, Pasadena, La Canada-Flintridge, and Glendale. There are many other cities/communities which
have spoken out against the Tunnel (Los Angeles, Sierra Madre, Highland Park, Eaglerock,
Silverlake, Glassel Park, La Crescenta, Altadena, West Pasadena, and El
Sereno). There are even people in San
Marino, Alhanbra, and Monterey Park who oppose the tunnel. There are prominent
elected officials in Pasadena who have spoken out against the Tunnel (Mayor
Bogaard, Pasadena City Councilman Steve Madison, and Councilwoman Margaret
McAustin). Our Local State Senator Carol
Liu and former State Assemblyman Anthony Portantino have opposed the
tunnel. Congressman Adam Schiff opposes
the tunnel.
At the South
Pasadena City Council meeting of September 18 there will be a presentation on
the direct impacts that the EIR has proposed with the five remaining
alternatives.
The fight goes on.