Local News in Brief : Freeway Plan Revived

The Long Beach Freeway extension, South Pasadena’s version of the ghoul that won’t die, has lumbered into view again. Continuing a tireless 24-year effort to complete the freeway, Caltrans is about to issue a final environmental impact statement on the proposed 6.2-mile extension.

And the city, just as tirelessly, is preparing to continue its fight against the proposal, which calls for eight lanes to be built through the middle of the community to hook up with the Pasadena and Foothill freeways.

The South Pasadena City Council voted to hire a consultant to answer Caltrans’ experts, who favor a route that follows Meridian Avenue but jogs westward in the north end of the city to avoid some historical structures. “It’s a critical point, and we want to get in as many licks as we can,” said Martin Dilger, chairman of the city’s Transportation Commission.

The city contends that Caltrans never gave serious consideration to an alternative route to the west. Even under the most favorable of circumstances, Caltrans says, construction won’t begin on the extension until the mid-1990s.