Some want state to pass on tunnel

Trucks or no trucks? That seemed to be the question on everyone’s lips at the recent meeting of the Crescenta Valley Community Association.

The concerns expressed by the 35-plus residents centered on the impact of the expected increased big rig traffic through the foothills upon completion of the Long Beach (710) Freeway connection to Foothill (210) Freeway, a tunnel project that has been years in discussion but now may be making steps forward.

“I don’t like it,” said La Crescenta resident David Meyers. “It will bring nothing positive to our community.”

On the contrary, said Meyers, the 210 Freeway will see a huge increase in truck traffic as it would be a conduit for trucks leaving the Port of Long Beach after having shipping containers loaded onto their rigs.

“It’s about moving more goods via truck,” he said.

However, Nat Read of the 710 Freeway Coalition, who also attended the CVCA meeting, said that would not necessarily be the case.

“Trucks wouldn’t like the new route [along the 210] and will prefer the Golden State (5) Freeway,” he predicts. “The [new 210] grade will be even steeper and longer than the Grapevine.”

Supporters of the project contend that because there is no connector between the 210 and 710, the truck traffic from the harbor switches to the 5 and goes through the East Los Angeles interchange. A major freeway route from the harbor to the 5 in Sylmar that bypassed the East Los Angeles interchange would contribute to easing the traffic congestion on freeways running through the city of Los Angeles.

“Our current freeway system does not work,” Read said of the existing traffic on Southland freeways. He added that he expects the project — a tunnel which would connect the Alhambra to Pasadena four-and-a-half mile gap between the two interstates — would greatly reduce congestion on eight different freeways.

But Meyers said that other northbound freeways — the 5, 10 and 60 — are poorly designed for truck traffic, leaving the 710 connector tunnel as the most viable option for moving goods.

The residents at the meeting also said the financial, pollutant and environmental costs of the project are too high. Assessing these issues will be part of the Environmental Impact Report and Environment Impact Study, both studies that are required by federal and state statutes.