Metro is once again preparing to wade into the shark-infested waters of the 710 Freeway gap in South Pasadena, which spans four and a half miles between Valley Boulevard and Del Mar Avenue. It all goes back to a May 2010 meeting (it actually goes much further than that), when the Metro Board of Directors adopted motions broadening the search for solutions and moving forward with the environmental review phase for the project to fill the gap. The Source is reporting that tomorrow the Board will consider a $37.3 million contract for CH2M Hill to prepare the environmental impact reports and preliminary engineering for...well, there's the rub.
According to the scoping draft that preceded the contract, the study will examine alternatives that include, but are not limited to, surface and subsurface highway/freeway construction, heavy rail and bus/light rail systems, local street upgrades, traffic management, and no-build. (Read: "We're ruling out exactly nothing.") According to the staff report recommending the Board approve the contract with CH2M Hill, Metro and Caltrans made "extensive efforts" to engage the community in a scoping process that included events where everyone pondered Where have we been? and Where are we going? (but not Are we there yet?), as well as another set of events that explained the environmental review processes.
· Board to consider contract for 710 gap environmental document [The Source]
· Amid Ruckus, 710 Tunnel Study Funds Are Approved [Curbed LA]
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