Schiff urges Caltrans to extend 710 Freeway public comment period

In a letter to Caltrans Monday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) urged transportation officials to extend the amount of time cities will have to respond to an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) related to the 710 Freeway expansion project, expected to be released this spring.

Currently, members of the public have 60 days to respond to the report’s conclusions. Cities or agencies who wish to conduct their own studies to analyze those findings are held to the same time window.

Schiff addressed his letter to Carrie Bowen, the director of District 7 overseeing Los Angeles and Ventura counties, requesting the period be extended to 120 days to allow for an adequate response.

“The current 60 day public comment period does not provide sufficient time to thoroughly review an environmental document that will likely be hundreds of pages and will include the technical analysis of a complex 6.3 mile long tunnel alignment,” Schiff wrote.

La Cañada and the surrounding impacted cities of Glendale, Pasadena, South Pasadena and Sierra Madre have formed a 5 City Alliance, pooling their money and resources to respond as quickly as possible once the EIR is released.

The alliance, which has already secured its own consultants to examine the Metro/Caltrans findings, is most concerned with the dual-bore tunnel being floated as one way to connect the freeway from its terminal ends in Alhambra and Pasadena.

-- Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com

Follow on Twitter: @SaraCardine.

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