Alhambra declares '710 Day,' reaffirms support for freeway extension
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-alhambra-710-freeway-extension-20130515,0,3414698.story

lovetheneighborhood at 5:21 PM May 17, 2013
This would undermine the quality of life for all who live along the planned route.

wesleyreutimann at 12:55 PM May 17, 2013
At a time when there is increasing public support
and demand for transportation alternatives, the limited taxpayer dollars
available for transportation infrastructure should be spent
judiciously. Even in a best case scenario the tunnel option would
require a massive investment of scarce transit dollars, dollars that
could otherwise be used to expedite the development of projects that
enjoy broad public support, including the Metro Gold Line Extensions to
Ontario and Whittier, the “Subway to the Sea”, and the “JEM” line
linking the Westside and San Fernando Valley. Funding saved from a “Big
Dig” tunnel project could also be used to further expand and augment the
region’s growing transit network via the implementation of Bus Rapid
Transit lines connecting to Metro Rail. In short, the high price tag of
a tunnel and freeway widening would inherently slow efforts to
transform Southern California into a region composed of
pedestrian-friendly communities linked by a convenient, multi-modal
transit system. Rather than spend billions on a 4.5 mile toll tunnel and
freeway expansion that will benefit few and burden many, we should
invest in 21st century solutions

Sunyoung Yang at 12:20 PM May 17, 2013
This project is insanity epitomized. The political dealings
of those who will get a fat contract out of moving this project forward
aka Messina while the residents who live there will suffer from the
toxic soup that will be fuming out of those tunnels. Many deaths by a
tunnel to feed greed and corruption. Political insanity.

Janrik911051 at 9:59 AM May 17, 2013
Alhambra is using Psych 101 principle of leveling.
Rather than work toward improving their overcrowded mismanaged city,
they are promoting an ill conceived project that will reduce their
neighboring cities down to their quality of life. Given Messina's track
record, no doubt there is some $$ for her personal interests as well.
A multi billion $ (money we don't have, by the way) tunnel across 4 earthquake faults, charging high tolls for users, will NOT alleviate local traffic. Commuters will NOT be paying the high tolls planned to return foreign investors' monies. It will NOT improve air quality, quite the contrary. Bringing hundreds of thousands of big rigs to the San Gabriel Valley will only destroy the environment and quality of life we all enjoy.
And the most basic question is...have any of the tunnel supporters ever BEEN on the 210 before 10 a.m. Or after 2 p.m.??? Imagine an few extra thousand big rigs added to the already mostly "parking lot" conditions. Someone please explain to me why they think sitting on the 210 in traffic will improve movement of goods?
Perhaps insignificant, but self satisfying, I am on a quest to curtail my purchasing of Chinese goods, doing my small part to reduce the need for goods movement through my neighborhood. I will be making a conscious effort to buy less and buy local. After all, who among us has too little clutter?
A multi billion $ (money we don't have, by the way) tunnel across 4 earthquake faults, charging high tolls for users, will NOT alleviate local traffic. Commuters will NOT be paying the high tolls planned to return foreign investors' monies. It will NOT improve air quality, quite the contrary. Bringing hundreds of thousands of big rigs to the San Gabriel Valley will only destroy the environment and quality of life we all enjoy.
And the most basic question is...have any of the tunnel supporters ever BEEN on the 210 before 10 a.m. Or after 2 p.m.??? Imagine an few extra thousand big rigs added to the already mostly "parking lot" conditions. Someone please explain to me why they think sitting on the 210 in traffic will improve movement of goods?
Perhaps insignificant, but self satisfying, I am on a quest to curtail my purchasing of Chinese goods, doing my small part to reduce the need for goods movement through my neighborhood. I will be making a conscious effort to buy less and buy local. After all, who among us has too little clutter?

GarySC at 8:44 AM May 17, 2013
Ha, what a joke. MrXMan (hiding behind a "mysterious"
name, profoundly juvenile), continues to spout the same false
statements, lies, misstatements, skewed statements and offered NOTHING
of substance, or validity. Please note that he's the ONLY person who's
submitted anything in support of the 710. So, Mr X-ie, where's all the
support you claim. I think you stand alone, very alone. Since ignorance
is bliss, you must be very very blissful. I'm happy for you. Now please,
go play with your blocks, adjust your aluminum foil hat, and please
stop showing off how much you do not know. You ARE embarrassing
yourself. Don't you have any family to take care of you?

Cntoam at 6:43 AM May 17, 2013
If you think traffic is a problem now, just wait until
construction starts on this monster project with detours and street
closures and 1,000 truckloads of dirt being hauled away EACH DAY. This
boondoggle is a cruel joke on residents who will face gridlock in their
neighborhoods while this crazy tunnel and freeway takes 15 YEARS to
build.

Don Diego de la Vega at 6:33 AM May 17, 2013
The mayor of Alhambra has been waiting 50 years to blast
the 710 Toll Tunnel thru our valley. Is he still smoking "Acapulco
Gold?" Get over it man, The Beatles have broken up and gone south along
with your pop's Rambler! This is the 21st Century man, the only option
today is Rapid Transit. We don't even have the money to fix our
current freeways, let alone spend $15 billion on a toll tunnel to the
Rose Bowl. The 710 Toll Tunnel is as dated as Alhambra's cinder block
city hall!

no710tunnel at 5:05 AM May 17, 2013
[Alhambra City Council candidate Elizabeth] Salinas told
Alhambra Source that she believes that the 710 Freeway may be nothing
more than a political pitch. "Dr. Placido has been in office for eight
years now, why hasn't it been completed yet if he is such a champion
for its completion?" Salinas wrote in an email Friday in response to
the council members' endorsement of Placido. "It seems to me like the
City is first creating the traffic problems (i.e. by overdevelopment
all along Fremont, current projects and proposed ones), and then they
come up with the solution: complete the 710, which becomes the typical
slogan heard around election time. Alhambrans are a lot smarter than
that and can see right through the gimmick."
from the Alhambra Source 10/29/12: http://www.alhambrasource.org/news/election-2012-alhambra-city-council-members-endorse-placido
from the Alhambra Source 10/29/12: http://www.alhambrasource.org/news/election-2012-alhambra-city-council-members-endorse-placido

no719 Tunnel at 1:36 AM May 17, 2013
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin-top:0in;mso-para-margin-right:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0in;line-height:115%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
As former Assemblyman Anthony Portantino said “The more folks know about the 710 tunnels, the more they oppose [them].” To those who uncritically support the 710 freeway extension: wake up, it’s not NIMBY, it’s BOONDOGGLE we need to be concerned about. The 710 freeway/tunnel/highway is no longer a viable solution to congestion. Let’s come up with transportation alternatives that will preserve the quality of life for everyone now and in the future.
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin-top:0in;mso-para-margin-right:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0in;line-height:115%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
As former Assemblyman Anthony Portantino said “The more folks know about the 710 tunnels, the more they oppose [them].” To those who uncritically support the 710 freeway extension: wake up, it’s not NIMBY, it’s BOONDOGGLE we need to be concerned about. The 710 freeway/tunnel/highway is no longer a viable solution to congestion. Let’s come up with transportation alternatives that will preserve the quality of life for everyone now and in the future.

reality check5 at 10:28 PM May 16, 2013
Ahh…so what happens exactly when there is an accident
in the tunnel and I'm lucky enough to not be caught in the tunnel with
the backed-up traffic? (cough cough - still breathing if there isn't a
fire)
Do I drive as I would normally to Pasadena? I assume there wont be the stubs anymore, so am I trying to find a new route with the several thousands of other cars exiting off of the tunnel route?
Do I drive as I would normally to Pasadena? I assume there wont be the stubs anymore, so am I trying to find a new route with the several thousands of other cars exiting off of the tunnel route?

pasadenawatch at 10:03 PM May 16, 2013
Regarding those people in Pasadena who are against a
tunnel...WHY did you buy a home between 2 freeway stubs?? Really now
... What were you thinking? South Pas won't suffer at all. The tunnel
is completely underground in that section. Tired of these little old
ladies from Pasadena whining. Idea...Let's bike from Pasadena to the 10
Fwy. LOL. Get real. LA is and always will be car culture. That clown
Pasadena Councilman Steve Madison panders to the elderly on this issue
and is totally ignored by the rest of the Pasadena City council. Tunnel
is gonna happen---Too much money at stake for payoffs and political
favors...the Pasadena Way.

EMEdwards at 9:31 PM May 16, 2013
The 710 Freeway is a product of the middle of the LAST
century! This is an opportunity to create a 21st century solution that
will not increase our carbon footprint but implement solutions that will
be cleaner and more efficient and friendlier for the health of ALL of
the effected communities (and rely on an aternative fuel). The Tunnel is
not that solution!

dennis145 at 9:20 PM May 16, 2013
I've never objected to driving through Alhambra and South
Pasadena, even during rush hour, and I will continue to do so when
business takes me there. Even if the tunnel were to be built, the
completion date is at least ten years from now, so I foresee that the
drive north or south on Fremont will continue. If the tunnel were to be
built, I wouldn't pay the toll, and I certainly wouldn't want to drive
four miles underground with a lot of trucks. No, I'll take my chances
on the sunny streets of Alhambra. If there were a rail line from
Pasadena, I certainly would take a ride and actually visit Alhambra,
rather than drive through it. I understand that the residents of
Alhambra don't want all the rush hour traffic in their backyard, on the
other hand, i have stopped to buy gas and food and drink on my way
through. I am sure others do the same. That income might be lost when
it all goes underground. Alhambra may have empty streets, but it will
still have the pollution thanks to the exhaust vents at the mouth of the
tunnel.
The reasons the people of South Pasadena have fought the completion of the 710 still exist. They fought hard for all of us. I sure thank them.
The reasons the people of South Pasadena have fought the completion of the 710 still exist. They fought hard for all of us. I sure thank them.

Calvin11 at 8:55 PM May 16, 2013
The really sad part of this discussion is that the City
Council in Alhambra is not informed about the real facts of the 710
Tunnels. The neighborhoods in Alhambra are not informed. The residents
have not been educated about the expected years of construction, noise
and vibrations, closed streets, the tolls, more pollution, and the
expected increase of cars and big-rigs on their streets. Barbara Messina
who is the biggest promoter of the 710 and who serves on the Alhambra
City Council is stuck in 1950s approach to transportation solutions.
Ms. Messina does not provide an honest and FULL story to her colleagues
on the Council. Freeways are yesterday's form of transportation.
We need to spend our linited funds on more transit - not more freeways. We need to complete the Gold Line to Ontario. We need to increase public transist throughout the Los Angeles Basin. And - most important - we need to complete the Alameda Corridor and other rail options to transport the enormous amount of cargo that arrives and will continue to arrive in even greater quanities at our ports. Getting even some of the trucks off our freeways should be our goal - not widening the 710 or building unbelieveably expensive tunnels that will be at gridlock immediately.
We need to spend our linited funds on more transit - not more freeways. We need to complete the Gold Line to Ontario. We need to increase public transist throughout the Los Angeles Basin. And - most important - we need to complete the Alameda Corridor and other rail options to transport the enormous amount of cargo that arrives and will continue to arrive in even greater quanities at our ports. Getting even some of the trucks off our freeways should be our goal - not widening the 710 or building unbelieveably expensive tunnels that will be at gridlock immediately.

sgavit at 8:46 PM May 16, 2013
I don't understand how some people can think that adding another freeway in LA is progress. Cut through traffic can be significantly improved in Alhambra by simply removing the Pasadena and Alhambra 710 stubs. Instead of spending billions on a 4.9-mile Band-Aid, we need to invest in transportation that will meet the needs for the future. For moving people, light rail and rapid bus routes can achieve the same improvements in traffic flow for a fraction of the cost. Metro could complete every transit alternative that it is considering in far less time and for a fraction of the money that the tunnels will cost. For moving cargo from our ports, we should increase the efficiency of the Alameda Corridor and complete the Alameda Corridor East. Long-haul trucks do not belong on our freeways and neighborhoods! The 710 has the terrible distinction of being the dirtiest freeway in the country. Why would we want to bring its pollution and noise to the San Gabriel Valley?
I don't understand how some people can think that adding another freeway in LA is progress. Cut through traffic can be significantly improved in Alhambra by simply removing the Pasadena and Alhambra 710 stubs. Instead of spending billions on a 4.9-mile Band-Aid, we need to invest in transportation that will meet the needs for the future. For moving people, light rail and rapid bus routes can achieve the same improvements in traffic flow for a fraction of the cost. Metro could complete every transit alternative that it is considering in far less time and for a fraction of the money that the tunnels will cost. For moving cargo from our ports, we should increase the efficiency of the Alameda Corridor and complete the Alameda Corridor East. Long-haul trucks do not belong on our freeways and neighborhoods! The 710 has the terrible distinction of being the dirtiest freeway in the country. Why would we want to bring its pollution and noise to the San Gabriel Valley?

sbolan at 8:45 PM May 16, 2013
Mr X Man - Harry, Leeland, Nat, is that you?? Alhambra has a
long history of leading their citizens down the garden path to the
detriment of their town. They have spent hundreds of thousands of
dollars on lobbyists to counter the opposition with their invented
statistics and 710 rants. I bet they get a $100 every time they say
THOSE RICH NIMBYS FROM SOUTH PASADENA. The truth is that far more
people oppose this project than support it. Only some of them live in
South Pasadena. El Sereno will bear the largest impact of the 10 years
of construction and the number of homes destroyed. There will be
absolutely no benefit to that town. The rest of the opposition is
scattered throughout the whole northeast. This is a regional issue. If
you live in Alhambra, I encourage you to learn more about the 5
alternatives by going to no710.com. There you will see clearly the
different proposed alternatives and realize that there are serious
issues of health, safety, and cost associated with this EXTENSION
project. The only way to fix the traffic congestion for Alhambra and
the rest of us is to do the TSM/TDM projects and call it a day. The
Alhambra City Council is not operating in their city's best interest to
be sure.

No710er at 8:38 PM May 16, 2013
Comments made by mrxman that the north end of the 710 stub
is already finished is absolutely not true. Metro's plans for the north
end of the tunnel would not have cars exiting at Del Mar. The north
end would exit at Lake Avenue which will take traffic north and east, so
that those wanting to exit the tunnel sooner would not have that
option. Regarding the issue about So Pasadena blocking the 710 since
1960, there are many other cities besides So Pasadena that oppose the
710 tunnel: Glendale, La Crescenta, La Canada/ Flintridge, Sierra
Madre, and Los Angeles. Pasadena City Council has voted many times to
oppose the tunnel. Polls taken to survey public opinion about
completing the 710 NEVER notified the public that TOLLS would be
charged. Toll roads are operating in the RED. Presently no one knows
the true cost of completing such a project. It is been estimated in the
billions with construction over a period of 10 years. Exhaust from car
and truck pollution would be released from huge venting towers along
the tunnel route. The tunnel is a bad idea. There are other
alternatives.

mrxman at 7:03 PM May 16, 2013
South Pasadena has held the whole region hostage in stopping
the completion. It goes all the way back to their first lawsuit in
1973. But...
July, 2000
The Rose Institute’s survey of residents in the San Gabriel Valley showed support for completion of the 710 of 63% versus 11% opposed.November, 2000Poll of El Sereno voters showed support for completion of 60% versus 28% opposed.Nov. 13, 2000The Pasadena City Council placed a citizen’s initiative On the March, 2001, ballot which would lock in the city’s affirmative position on the 710, after the "710 Freeway Now" group collected 8,000 valid signatures to qualify the measure.Dec. 11, 2000The Pasadena City Council placed its own anti-710 measure on the March, 2001, ballot.March 6, 2001Pasadena voters oby a margin of 58% to 42% approve the initiative making completion of the 710 Freeway mandatory city policy binding on the Mayor and the City Council.April 24, 2001Los Angeles County Metropolitian Transportation Authority adopts Long Range Transportation Plan showing the 710 Project as the highest performing transportation project in the entire County of Los Angeles, and listing the 710 completion as the #1 "strategic" project.September, 2001Eleven state legislators form the "710 Freeway Legislative Action Group" to dramatize regional support and to work collectively for the earliest possible groundbreaking.
July, 2000
The Rose Institute’s survey of residents in the San Gabriel Valley showed support for completion of the 710 of 63% versus 11% opposed.November, 2000Poll of El Sereno voters showed support for completion of 60% versus 28% opposed.Nov. 13, 2000The Pasadena City Council placed a citizen’s initiative On the March, 2001, ballot which would lock in the city’s affirmative position on the 710, after the "710 Freeway Now" group collected 8,000 valid signatures to qualify the measure.Dec. 11, 2000The Pasadena City Council placed its own anti-710 measure on the March, 2001, ballot.March 6, 2001Pasadena voters oby a margin of 58% to 42% approve the initiative making completion of the 710 Freeway mandatory city policy binding on the Mayor and the City Council.April 24, 2001Los Angeles County Metropolitian Transportation Authority adopts Long Range Transportation Plan showing the 710 Project as the highest performing transportation project in the entire County of Los Angeles, and listing the 710 completion as the #1 "strategic" project.September, 2001Eleven state legislators form the "710 Freeway Legislative Action Group" to dramatize regional support and to work collectively for the earliest possible groundbreaking.

PollySchiffman at 6:46 PM May 16, 2013
Protesting the proposed 710 freeway-tunnel is not NIMBYism
as some allege. Rather, it is a sensible response to a very serious
environmental threat. The Greater Los Angeles Area cannot tolerate the
additional semi-truck traffic, pollution (air, water, noise...), and
neighborhood destruction that a 710 tunnel will cause. AND the tunnel
will not fix the problems that 710 car commuters complain about. We
need to establish 21st Century approaches to our region's transportation
needs -- cleaner and more affordable approaches that will benefit ALL
of us!

thaddius.d.patrizzi at 5:33 PM May 16, 2013
Do NOT disrespect your neighbors and cause harm to
your own residents, ALHAMBRA! Haven't the people of the Arroyo and
Chavez Ravine suffered enough? And be TRUTHFUL, the 710 will no longer
be a free -way but an expensive TOLL way for the profit of shylocks and
loan sharks. We must join together to stop this while we are still
breathing without the help of apparatus and gas masks (COPD, asthma,
birth defects) How can we keep widening and creating more tollways in
this economy? The risks are high! Health care is unaffordable and needs
fixing. You can't eat and breathe money. Why are we told to care only
about money when most of that belongs to the Wall Family and the Koch
Brothers. You are catering to the destructive forces, Alhambra! We will
make our own economy. We will adjust in an alternate and independent
way. NO 710 Day is going to make this looser project look any different.
BTW, what if this strange and ihistorically idiotic 710 is a screen for
FRACKING? We need everyone to protect the Arroyo Seco. It is our
greatest resource. This is our LIFE or our death. - Dianne P.,
Pasadena Property Owner

publicworksevaluator at 5:31 PM May 16, 2013
If the 710 tunnel were built, the Mayor and all of his
neighbors in SW Alhambra would suffer tunnel excavation 24/7 for at
least 10 years. That would mean continuous noise, vibrations and
bumper-to -bumper trucks full of dirt leaving their neighborhood. METRO
has stated that all of the dirt-carring trucks would operate only from
the south end of the tunnel. (It is less costly for the heavily
loaded trucks to go down hill.)
A lot of traffic travelling north on the 710 could easily be diverted onto the 10 freeway, avoiding the surface streets in Alhambra by simply eliminating the 710 stub north of the 10 freeway.
A lot of traffic travelling north on the 710 could easily be diverted onto the 10 freeway, avoiding the surface streets in Alhambra by simply eliminating the 710 stub north of the 10 freeway.

AOKAudrey at 5:21 PM May 16, 2013
J.Picone is dead right. The tunnel will do nothing to
relieve current traffic along that route that Metro admits will bring
180 thousand cars and trucks a day. The route through Pasadena has been
labeled an industrial zone by Metro who ignores the many schools,
Huntington Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, Senior LIving homes all
adjacent or within blocks of this truck route. These vulnerable
populations and are ignored by Metro. As are all the families living in
the homes along the route, including the Historic Markham district
homes. The tunnel will bring 180 thousand cars and trucks a day through
all of the cities along the 710 truck route and dump them onto the
already congested 210.

PhotoLA1 at 5:21 PM May 16, 2013
Why does Alhambra want more traffic and pollution in their
town? It seems silly. Is the San Gabriel not smoggy enough. I would not
want a freeway in my backyard. I work in Alhambra and the street traffic
is not bad, compared to the west side of LA it is great.
There is a little bottleneck when you get off the 710, but that is it. Rethink this Alhambra.
There is a little bottleneck when you get off the 710, but that is it. Rethink this Alhambra.

Jeff Leon at 5:15 PM May 16, 2013
This is in such poor taste. Instead of these childish tactics how about addressing why the other alternatives aren't worthy?

mrxman at 6:32 PM May 16, 2013
The original alternative is worthy. Just finish the 710
freeway. The other end in Pasadena is already done. It should be a
regular freeway. The way the proposal was a several years ago and only
the RICH NIMBYS IN SOUTH PASADENA didn't want it. Back then all the
other surrounding communities wanted it including Pasadena!