Freeway Ploy Backfires on Alhambra Businesses

Drivers heading through Alhambra for their commute Tuesday became the first frustrated victims of a traffic diversion plan that city officials seemingly put in place to spite neighboring South Pasadena for opposing the extension of the Long Beach Freeway.

But as the haze dissipated during the morning, the biggest losers in the suburban traffic war appeared to be some of Alhambra’s own businesses.

At her Yum-Yum Coffee and Donut store, just south of the morning detour point on Fremont Avenue, Olga De La Torre stood gravely over empty tables and a rack full of doughnuts. The 30-year-old mother of three figured her business was down 75%, enough to worry about how she will pay her bills if the city persists in steering customers away from her door.

“The busiest hours are when they block it,” De La Torre said of the shop she bought two years ago after scrimping for more than a decade. “It’s always crowded in here.”

Up the street, John Mead, checking a customer’s oil at the Mobil station where he is a cashier and assistant, said the blockade seriously reduced the number of cars coming in.

Although Mead said he hopes the diversion spurs people to support the freeway completion, he worried about the dearth of customers. The place is usually full on weekday mornings, he said, as is the Unocal station across the street.

Both were near empty Tuesday morning. “They should have asked me, but maybe I’m too small for them to ask,” Unocal station owner Paul Poh said about the detour. “But maybe they don’t care.”

Under the plan Alhambra officials instituted Tuesday, southbound drivers on Fremont are directed onto Main Street--and out of the city--in the morning. Evening traffic on eastbound Valley Boulevard is narrowed to one lane where the Long Beach Freeway empties onto the street in Alhambra.

The changes are necessary, officials said, to reduce traffic dumped onto their streets because 6.2 miles of the proposed Long Beach Freeway remains unfinished.

Alhambra officials hope the detour will prompt South Pasadena to back down in its 35-year, largely successful battle to block the freeway extension. But while repeatedly blaming their neighbor for Alhambra’s traffic problems, they were careful to say the move was not aimed at causing congestion on South Pasadena streets--as neighboring officials had feared.

“That was not the goal,” said Alhambra Mayor Mark Paulson, standing at the intersection where officers were guiding drivers onto Main Street. “This is not a childish payback, or a pissing match, or the Hatfields and McCoys. . . . Our goal is solely to reduce traffic while the 710 is being completed.”

The plan got mixed reviews from residents Tuesday, but Alhambra’s message came across loud and clear to many drivers who inched along in the bottlenecks.

“Today is hell,” said one man who waited 30 minutes in afternoon gridlock to get onto Valley Boulevard from the freeway. He said the traffic jam was worse than usual.

“I don’t know why they don’t just finish [the freeway] and make it longer,” he said.

Jennifer Gilliam, who lives in South Pasadena and does not want the freeway extended, said during the afternoon tie-up that she wants to send a message back to Alhambra.

“I’m going to boycott all of their businesses,” she said.

An Alhambra woman, nosing along in her car during the morning rush hour, was angry as well at her own city.

“I live a half-block from here, and I have to go four miles to get home now!” she shouted angrily, before peeling out around a corner. “That’s not right for the people of Alhambra. I want this stopped immediately!”

But others welcomed the city’s actions. Sheila Loy is the owner of an industrial tool supplier and must zigzag around town to avoid daily gridlock. She drives down Fremont to work every day.

“I’m going to be right in the middle of the traffic, and I’m still delighted with [the diversion],” she said. “I’m happy the city of Alhambra is finally doing something.”

Alhambra officials conceded that they still need to iron out some details of the new traffic plan. For example, although they said it would require no extra staffing to implement, an Alhambra police officer had to be stationed at the blockade Tuesday morning to let MTA buses through.

Alhambra has been one of the staunchest supporters of completing the freeway extension, because residents say the project would divert much of the north-south traffic off its streets.

South Pasadena has managed to keep freeway construction at bay with litigation and court injunctions against Caltrans and the federal government. On Monday, it won yet another round when a federal judge issued a new injunction prohibiting construction and the acquisition of homes along the freeway path.