Posted by Robin Goldworthy, April 2, 2015
Thanks to Jan SooHoo and Susan Bolan of the
No 710 Action Group for providing the attendees at the March 26
Crescenta Valley Community Assn. meeting information on the Draft
Environmental Impact Statement on the 710 Extension project. Susan is
also a member of the CVCA Steering Committee. They shared their
preliminary impressions of the study that was released on March 6. It is
roughly 26,000 pages, including all the appendices and technical
reports, so it will take many eyes to scrutinize it thoroughly.
The document can be viewed, in
manageable sections, on the CalTrans website:
http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist07/resources/envdocs/docs/710study/draft_eir-eis/
The public has 120 days to submit
comments before the July 6 deadline. Comments can go to Garrett Damrath,
Chief Environmental Planner; Caltrans District 7, Division of
Environmental Planning; 100 S. Main St., MS-16A; Los Angeles, CA 90012.
Comments can also be sent in electronically via the CalTrans website.
The No 710 Action Committee website has information on composing and
submitting your comments: http://www.no710.com/deir-info.html.
The complex document considers five
alternatives: no build, Transportation system management/transportation
demand management, bus rapid transit, light rail transit and a freeway
tunnel. The TSM/TDM alternative consists of improvements with existing
transportation facilities such as traffic signal upgrades, ramp metering
and local street improvements. The bus rapid transit alternative is a
high-speed, high-frequency bus service along a 12-mile route from East
Los Angeles to Pasadena. The light rail transit alternative is a
passenger rail line along a roughly 7.5-mile route including three miles
of elevated segments and approximately 4.5 miles of bored tunnel
segments.
The freeway tunnel alternative would be
6.3 miles long with approximately 4.2 miles of bored tunnel and .7
miles of cut and cover tunnel, from the current end of the 710 freeway
in Alhambra to the 210/134 interchange in Pasadena. Both a single-bore
and dual-bore configuration are included plus different operational
variations such as toll or no toll, trucks allowed or not. The use of
multiple tunnel boring machines, starting from both ends of the tunnel,
is being considered. That could be a total of four of the custom-built
multimillion dollar machines in the case of a dual-bore construction.
Expected environmental impacts from
each of the alternatives are summarized in tables and the supporting
material is in the technical studies.
What is missing is a cost-benefit
analysis of the alternatives despite community members and elected
officials calling for it during the preparation of the DEIR.
Please take the time to read the 44
page executive summary and, considering your areas of expertise, any
other segments where you may be able to contribute constructive comments
to make the review process more complete. Please share all these
resources with friends and relatives who have knowledge and credentials
in the areas expected to have impacts. These include traffic, noise and
air pollution, and issues with the tunnel boring machines like the one
currently being repaired after breaking down resulting in massive cost
overruns in Seattle.
The comments should focus on
environmental impacts that are not adequately considered in the
document. Opinions on the appropriateness of the project in general and
the lack of other alternatives in the study should be articulated in
letters to the editor and communicated to your elected officials.