U.S. OKs Extension of Long Beach Freeway
As anticipated, federal transportation authorities on Friday announced their approval of the Long Beach Freeway extension, contingent on modifications to the plan to reduce its impact on affected communities--changes that Caltrans has vowed to make.
The formal announcement ends 32 years of waiting over the fate of the project, which has been furiously battled by two of the communities it will run through--South Pasadena and the Eastside neighborhood of El Sereno.
“There’s no going back,” said Fred Hempel, a senior federal highway official. “We have made a decision. We are prepared to go ahead.”
Legal challenges will come from South Pasadena and El Sereno. The latter community has already filed a federal civil rights suit. A lawyer for the El Sereno plaintiffs said Friday that the federal proposal appears to be taking steps toward meeting their concerns but that the suit cannot be settled until Caltrans makes further alterations.
In South Pasadena, freeway opponents vowed to escalate their efforts. The city’s lawyer is preparing a lawsuit in a last-ditch bid to halt the 6.2-mile project.
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