Pasadena Officials Rethink Support for Freeway Extension

Pasadena’s longtime support for a controversial freeway extension through the city wavered Monday night, as the City Council debated whether to join the opposition.

The move could swing momentum against the proposed $1.4-billion roadway, which would extend the 710 Freeway and close the 6.2-mile gap between the San Bernardino and Foothill freeways. Federal highway officials have said that support from Pasadena is crucial for completion of the project.

Members of the city Transportation Advisory Commission voted 5-2 to urge the city to abandon its support of the long-delayed project. On Monday, the council heard arguments from both sides, and a vote was pending.

The proposed extension “has been on the books for over 30 years and still is nowhere near being completed,” commission member Richard McDonald told council members. “Even if it is given the green light today, it would take 15 years.” The city’s traffic problems, he said, can’t wait that long.

But Monrovia Mayor Bob Bartlett urged the council to continue its support for the freeway and to view the issue on a regional level. A change of heart would “tell the rest of us in the San Gabriel Valley that you don’t really care what our problems are; you just care about your own parochial needs.”

The mayor pro tem of Monterey Park, Benjamin Venti, agreed. The current freeway configuration, he said, floods his city with traffic.

“There’s a SigAlert every single night on the 710 Freeway. These people are breathing fumes and have road rage,” he said.

Other officials from surrounding cities pointed out that they had supported Pasadena in getting a Blue Line to Los Angeles.

But Pasadena Councilman Steve Madison, whose district lies in the freeway’s path, said the city needs to step away from the project, which has been in the works for a half-century and could take more than another to complete.

“Perhaps some people think we should spend 60 or 70 years on this,” he said. Madison added that officials should focus on getting state and federal funding for other alternatives to ease traffic through the area.

The council voted in 1996 to support the freeway extension, which is designed to cut through Pasadena, South Pasadena and part of Los Angeles. But a city commission has recommended that the eight-member council reverse that decision, which was made when half the current members were not in office. The 1996 vote was 4 to 2 in favor of completion; there was one abstention.

In 1998, the federal government approved the project. But last year South Pasadena, whose historic neighborhoods would be bisected by the freeway, sued to prevent construction. A federal judge granted the city a preliminary injunction to stop the work and the purchase of homes along the freeway path.

Although Pasadena has always been involved in the freeway’s fate, the most active participants in the battle have been the cities of South Pasadena and Alhambra.

South Pasadena has fought the project for more than three decades, while Alhambra, where the current terminus of the Long Beach Freeway channels a flood of traffic onto the streets, has waged a vigilant battle to get it completed.

The animosity between the two towns almost reached a flash point last summer, when Alhambra took steps to limit traffic flow on its streets. But the measures were toned down soon afterward and the controversy was largely forgotten.

Alhambra officials said Monday that they planned to watch the Pasadena vote closely. They said a recent poll showed most Pasadena residents support the project.

“Pasadena has been a strong supporter for 30 years and we anticipate that support [will] continue tonight,” said Mike Holmes, transportation analyst for the city of Alhambra. “We hope they listen to the poll and their constituents.”