The 710 gap (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Pasadena: best cities, live in, beach)

[sweetcityluvn]

Lived in Boston for awhile when I was getting my undergrad. "The Big Dig" was a success. Well not a full success, but better off then it was before the project.

[sweetcityluvn]

Actually I just Virtual Earthed that area. I had no idea how developed South Pasadena was. This really will be a mega engineering project and will take alot of political planning. Looks like there is no way but to go under unless they can dig up Fremont Aveneue to South Pasadena Avenue or something. I thought only a few neighborhoods would be affected, but will be hundreds of homes. I still think the freeway should be built though.

[matt345]

Filling in that gap will do absolutely nothing to relieve traffic. When will the people of LA finally wake up and realize that you can't just keep on building more and more freeways to alleviate traffic? We have the most extensive freeway system in the world with some of the widest freeways anywhere and yet our traffic is still the worst in the nation. Wake up people! Endless freeway expansion is not the answer! I'm glad they didn't destroy the place for a freeway - South Pasadena is a great community and it would be a real shame if it wasn't there right now.

[Green Irish Eyes]

I agree absolutely. Not to mention that I'd much rather see the millions (billions?) of dollars it would take to "finish" this project be used for something that, IMHO, would be more beneficial to the area.

[timelesschild]

More metro light rail would be WAY more beneficial than the 710 extension.

[kettlepot]

I would just like to add that Pasadena has a statewide reputation as being home to some prime examples of early 20th century historic homes/buildings in intact neighborhoods that have not been violated with inappropriate infill. It's historic preservation standards are the model which the rest of the cities in CA follow.

Building a freeway through the area would be tantamount to plowing through Georgetown, DC; historic Charleston, SC; Mission Hills, San Diego; and any number of other historic neighborhoods in the US. There certainly would have been a time in the US where our past would have been blown up in the name of progress. It's this kind of thinking that brought us Cabrini-Green, the "new" Penn Central Terminal in NYC, and any number of freeways throughout the US that tore apart neighborhoods, and downtowns, and turned whole areas into blight.

Now, NIMBYism can be a problem, and sometimes people use 'preservation' to preserve things that don't warrant it. However, I doubt this is one of those cases.

[uptown_urbanist]

Good point; and South Pasadena has also been repeatedly listed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's top 10 list of endangered places, so its historic buildings (both individually and as intact neighborhoods) have been recognized nationally, not just by local preservations or NIMBYs.

[pbergen]

i don't see any way this project gets completed unless caltrans builds a tunnel instead of a surface-level or elevated freeway. cutting through a gorgeous, well-maintained city with historic homes like south pasadena would be a travesty, and as others here have mentioned, the extension really wouldn't do anything to alleviate the local area's traffic problems.

LA has so many pressing transportation issues, and i'm not sure that completing the 710 is of the utmost priority. i'd much rather see the "subway to the sea" built, for instance. and if/when that's completed, the metro could theoretically be extended south toward LAX, which would be a major boon for the region.

imagine being able to take a direct train from DTLA to beverly hills, west LA, and santa monica instead of dealing with the 10 freeway or the congested east-west surface streets. these are the types of things that need to be prioritized instead of building more freeway lanes.

[sweetcityluvn]

Los Angeles needs a Robert Moses!!!.. (one of the greatest urban planners of all time who took no crap from anyone..hahah) The guy basically built New York City. It sucks cause there is this 5 mile gap in what looks like a fully completed freeway network. Its bugging me and I do not know why. There must be a way. It has to go underground. If Boston can do it, Los Angeles can. Ummm...yeah it would be probably a few billion (shrug). "The Big Dig" or Central Artery Project took atleast 16 billion to complete.

[uptown_urbanist]

The last thing LA needs is a Robert Moses.

I agree with the others - the subway to the sea would do far more to alleviate local traffic problems. There are so many other better uses of the money involved in a tunnel, or an above-ground freeway that would just immediately fill with traffic the day it opened.

Times have changed. Robert Moses-style projects are, thank goodness, are starting to fade in popularity. (I admire his getting-it-done abilities, though - LA could use someone who could get that subway finished.)