SOUTH PASADENA : City Goes to Court in Bid to Halt Freeway Extension

South Pasadena has gone to court in a new effort to stave off the proposed extension of the Long Beach Freeway by claiming that Caltrans cannot build the project without the city’s approval.

South Pasadena filed the lawsuit in Sacramento Superior Court, Mayor James Hodge said at a community meeting this week.

Generally, California cities have the power to disapprove any state projects planned within their borders. However, state legislation in 1984 exempts the project from that requirement, as long as draft environmental studies for the route were completed within a year of the legislation’s passage.

City officials say the legislation applied to a freeway route abandoned in 1986 and not the eight-lane project now under consideration.

The city claims Caltrans failed to complete the environmental studies for the route under consideration in the time frame specified in the 1984 law.

Attorneys for Caltrans and the city of Alhambra contend the freeway can be extended without South Pasadena’s approval because the environmental impact report for the first route also mentioned the second route. However, a second environmental report is under way for the new route.