Is there finally light at the end of the tunnel?
For 60 years, Caltrans relentlessly pushed to plow the 710 Freeway through the El Sereno neighborhood in east Los Angeles, as well as the heart of the city of South Pasadena and finally through Pasadena to link up with the 210. The homes in the path that they didn’t demolish they simply let rot. Caltrans deliberately dumped through traffic into those neighborhoods to wear down opposition. But activists in the three cities fought back, keeping the bulldozers at bay. Caltrans’ last gasp was to float a nonsensical tunnel alternative at a cost of more than $3 billion. Finally in 2017, the Metro Board voted unanimously to kill the project.
Many hoped the demise of the 710 tunnel would close a dark chapter in Southern California history. There would be no more deliberate routing of massive traffic-choked highways through urban neighborhoods. But Caltrans instead immediately turned its attention to widening the southern end of the 710 at an even more astronomical cost of $5 billion.
“I grew up close to the 710 in Bell Gardens,” recalls Assemblymember Cristina Garcia. “We lived with the noise and pollution and the constant threat of widening. That’s why no trees were ever planted on that stretch to soak up pollution. That’s why small business owners were hesitant to invest in their businesses, why residents constantly worried about losing their homes.”
Garcia is fighting back with a landmark bill that passed the Assembly Transportation Committee in late April by a vote of 9-3. AB 1778 is simple justice. It would forbid Caltrans from expanding freeways in neighborhoods that have suffered the most: those that score highest on diesel and particulate pollution and have the highest housing costs for low-income residents.
“Equity has become the favorite word among legislators in Sacramento,” Garcia says. “It’s time to hold ourselves accountable to those words. We can’t be for equity only when it’s convenient. We need to put actions behind our words, even if that means saying no to our friends.”
The “friends” Garcia refers to are powerful forces in the state Capitol: transportation agencies, asphalt contractors, construction companies, building trade unions, sprawl developers and their highly paid lobbyists. All have lined up in fierce opposition to her bill.
Yet the case is clear. Not only do freeway expansions continue to target vulnerable neighborhoods where families like Garcia’s are striving to raise children amidst poverty and pollution — they only make California’s worst problems worse.
“We know from research that freeway widening just invites more driving, producing more traffic and congestion,” Garcia notes. “That runs counter to our need to reduce greenhouse gases to fight drought and wildfires from climate change. And pushing people out of their homes only makes our housing crisis worse.”
She rejects the phony argument that such projects produce high-quality jobs. “We could use those same dollars to build the West Santa Ana light rail project serving those communities. We could be building affordable housing closer to where people work, cutting their commutes, easing the housing crisis and reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Those are also good jobs that improve our quality of life for all — and fight climate change.”
Over 1 million Americans were bulldozed from their homes to make way for urban highways, mostly people of color and overwhelmingly lower-income. They were sacrificed for a false idea of progress. AB 1778 is long overdue. If California legislators are serious about equity, climate action and easing the housing crisis, they’ll pass Garcia’s bill into law.
Rick Cole is a former mayor of Pasadena as well as city manager in Santa Monica, Ventura and Azusa. He welcomes feedback at urbanistcole@gmail.com.
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