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After governor’s veto, Liu vows to press again for sale of ‘710 Freeway homes’

(Raul Roa/Staff photographer)
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Gov. Jerry Brown last week vetoed a bill that would have forced the California Department of Transportation to quickly sell some of the nearly 500 properties it owns within the path of a potential Long Beach (710) Freeway extension.

In his veto message, Brown said he is working to find a solution for the so-called “710 gap,” where transportation officials are studying a 4.5-mile tunnel connecting the 710 and Foothill (210) freeways even as local leaders and residents raise alarms about the proposal.

State Sen. Carol Liu (D-La Cañada Flintridge), who wrote the measure pushing for the home sales, said she is likely to introduce a similar bill next year.

“I think there will need to be some legislation involved,” she said. “We’re going to talk to our locals and see how far we can get.”

Liu’s measure would have required Caltrans to begin selling homes it acquired decades ago in preparation for constructing an extension to the 710 Freeway. A state audit in August found Caltrans has been a poor steward of those properties, failing to collect market-rate rents or adequately oversee repairs to the homes.

Auditors called on Caltrans to transfer management of the properties to local cities — whose officials are cool to the idea — or to let a private firm take over.

Caltrans officials, who lobbied the governor to veto the bill, said it is too early to sell the homes because a Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority study of what to build in the 710 gap will not be complete until 2014. The agency is not sure what properties it eventually will need.

In his veto message, the governor agreed with Caltrans that Liu’s bill is premature.

“The environmental process requires evaluation of all reasonable options for closing the gap,” Brown wrote. “A law requiring Caltrans to sell the properties purchased for building a surface freeway — before the environmental process is completed — would taint the process.”

In his message, Brown said Caltrans will offer a response to the audit in November, and said the governor’s office is committed to finding “a solution to the long-standing controversies over closing the 710 Freeway gap.”

In August, MTA officials winnowed the list of alternatives for the 710 gap to just a 4.5-mile tunnel, light rail, bus lines and street improvements.

Ideas that were tossed out included building a freeway extending the 710 to the Glendale (2) Freeway, or along Avenue 64 from the 710 to the Ventura (134) Freeway.

Caltrans spokeswoman Kelly Markham said the agency couldn’t comment on options for managing the properties.

“Caltrans is committed to working with the author of the bill on the property management issues with regard to the 710 freeway gap project,” Markham said.

Liu said she was awaiting Caltrans’ reaction to the audit, and that her office is helping facilitate meetings between Caltrans and its tenants.

“Hopefully, [Caltrans] will have an adequate response to the audit and we’ll move forward from there,” Liu said. “We’re disappointed, but it isn’t over until it’s over.”

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Follow Daniel Siegal on Twitter: @ValleySunDan

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