East Pasadena neighborhoods already experience the effect of "spillover" traffic on east/west streets from the 210 Freeway. When an accident occurs on the freeway, it's even worse. The 710 will only exacerbate this problem according to City studies.
Here's what Korve Engineering reported to the City of Pasadena in 1992 about the impact the 710 Extension would have on East Pasadena's traffic circulation if it were built:
If the 710 were built,
"A significant increase in traffic will occur on the I-210 Freeway both north of the SR-134 Freeway and east of the I-710 Freeway."
"The highest increases would occur at the west end of this [the 210] segment, nearest the interchange with the I-710 Freeway."
"The eastbound volume increases would diminish as one traveled farther east, but volumes would still be higher even at the eastern city border."
"Virtually all of the peak direction freeway links are projected to operate at LOS F [gridlock] in the future..."
Here's a partial list of Korve's peak hour modeling forecasts for various intersections in East Pasadena, north of the 210 Freeway, for the year 2010 if the 710 were built:
Intersection Increase in Traffic with 710
Orange Grove @ Allen +1,140.0%
Orange Grove @ Los Robles + 29.8%
Washington @ Lake + 39.1%
Villa @ Altadena + 206.6%
Villa @ Allen + 10.4%
Villa @ Los Robles + 72.4%
As you can see, actual scrutiny of the claim that the 710 will reduce local traffic shows that this argument doesn't hold water. It is meant to distract you from the real purpose of the 710 Extension which is to provide a relief valve for other freeways and a truck route from the ports. It does nothing for Pasadena.
Northwest Pasadena neighborhoods already experience big rig trucks parking on neighborhood streets overnight. Though Caltrans promises to ban trucks from the 710 Extension, the Trucking Lobby has vowed to sue if Caltrans tries to keep them off the Freeway. Moreover, our region's planning agency, Southern California Association of Governments, has recently released its Draft Long Range Transportation Plan, and it states specifically that the 710 Extension will be a Truck Route. They forecast that 40,000 trucks will use the route Daily by the year 2025.
Korve Engineering did a study for the City of Pasadena in 1992. It forecast the impacts of the 710 Extension on the City's traffic circulation if the freeway were built. Below is a list of Korve's modeling forecasts for a few intersections they modeled in Northwest Pasadena if the 710 is built:
Intersection Increase in traffic with the 710
Washington @ Fair Oaks + 66.3%
Washington @ Lake + 39.1%
Orange Grove @ Los Robles + 29.8%
Orange Grove @ Lake + 12.2%
Villa @ Los Robles + 72.4%
As you can see, actual scrutiny of the claim that the 710 will reduce local traffic shows that this argument doesn't hold water. It is meant to distract you from the real purpose of the 710 Extension which is to provide a relief valve for other freeways and a truck route from the ports. It does nothing for Pasadena.
Certain neighborhoods in Southeast Pasadena, particularly along Los Robles, El Molino, and Oak Knoll Avenues, are geographically vulnerable. They are sandwiched between San Marino, South Pasadena, Alhambra to the south and the greater Pasadena area to the north. Therefore, their north/south arterials have always been the only routes for local through trips originating from the cities that surround them. As these cities have grown, the local through traffic has grown. The problem has been exacerbated by the fact that the city of Alhambra roughly tripled its population between the 1980 to 1990 census surveys due to pro-growth zoning policies (while San Marino and South Pasadena's populations remained almost the same).
Unfortunately, the 710 Freeway will not relieve this traffic. Traffic engineers say that it would require far too much "out of direction" travel to use the 710 as an alternative. The 710 will not have any entrances or exits between Del Mar in Pasadena and Huntington Drive in Northeast Los Angeles. The Huntington Drive exit in Northeast Los Angeles lies too far southwest of these areas to serve these local through trips. Unfortunately, Los Robles, El Molino, Oak Knoll and Marengo have always been and always will be the most direct route for residents that border Southeast Pasadena.
There are some folks in these neighborhoods that have been convinced over the years that their traffic woes are due to drivers making a connection from the I-210 freeway to the I-10 freeway. Yet traffic engineers have confirmed that these routes are not attractive enough as an alternative route for freeway-to-freeway through trips. The limited capacity and number of cross intersections results in time delays on these routes that are simply too great to serve as a reasonable alternative to other more direct, and much faster, existing freeway-to-freeway routes, such as Rosemead Blvd. or the Pasadena Ave/St. John interim route created by Caltrans in 1976. Moreover, none of these north/south streets have direct connections to the 210 and 10 freeways at both ends.
One might ask if other more direct routes would get so clogged with traffic someday that these streets might ultimately become the "short cut" someday for freeway-to-freeway trips. Well, this is precisely why building the 710 Extension is predicted to be a negative impact on these neighborhoods. The 710 is forecast to be grid locked from the day it opens, according to Caltrans, with 109,000 trips that do not originate in the San Gabriel Valley. The 710 is planned as a bypass, a relief valve, for other freeways. So much more regional traffic, that is, traffic from other counties, and big rig trucks, will be funneled through Pasadena, that local and sub regional traffic will remain on local streets. Moreover, our neighborhood streets will suffer the same spillover traffic effect from the 710 that the neighborhoods along the 210 experience today.
The answer is to make our Mobility Corridors more attractive as connections for local cities*, without inviting the world in their cars and big rig trucks to our doorstep. It would be foolish to try and solve a local traffic problem by putting a sign up that says: "more trucks this way."
*See how at what can be done now.
ONE MORE NOTE is that Los Robles, et al, will definitely suffer during the construction of the 710 Freeway because Caltrans must close the 110 Freeway from Glenarm to Ave. 64 for a period of up to six years in order to accommodate the construction of the 710 crossing. Other than Ave 64 or the Metro Blue Line, Southeast Pasadena neighborhoods will be the only other route to downtown Los Angeles via Huntington Drive.
Join your Southeast Pasadena Neighborhood Leaders Who are Voting No on Measure A and Voting Yes on Measure C Brooke & Edward Garlock Russ Thyret Kathleen & James Ipekjian Louisa & Mark Nelson R-Lene & Gordon de Lang Sally & John Howell Tessa & R. Kenton Nelson |
(being written, please check back later)