Topics / TRANSPORTATION : House Panel to Look at 710 Plans

A House subcommittee will conduct a hearing Tuesday on the proposal to extend the Long Beach Freeway (Interstate 710) through South Pasadena.

The Subcommittee on Surface Transportation will listen to opponents and proponents of the project as part of a day of hearings on California transportation projects. Funding for the 6.2-mile extension would need to pass through the subcommittee before the project could be built. South Pasadena officials said the hearing was called after they shared their concerns about the project with Rep. Nick Rahall II (D-West Virginia), chairman of the subcommittee.

In Sacramento, the California Transportation Commission has delayed a final decision on the freeway extension until April 26 or 27, said Pete Hathaway, commission chief deputy director. The state commission will hear a final presentation from staff on the route this month.

The Federal Highway Administration, which would provide 85% of the project’s funding, will make its decision on the freeway in May after the state commission makes its final determination. Congress would still need to approve the funding.

Assemblywoman Diane Martinez (D-Monterey Park) has introduced a bill to remove a legal roadblock to the route. The bill would allow Caltrans to place the 710 through South Pasadena without the usual agreement of the city. Last year, a Sacramento judge ruled a similar 1982 law authored by Martinez’s father--Rep. Matthew G. Martinez (D-Monterey Park), then a state assemblyman--had lapsed. Caltrans has appealed the decision.