Extending the Long Beach (710) Freeway through Pasadena could bring 1,368 cargo trucks traveling to and from the Port of Los Angeles, transportation officials say.
The data, included in a preliminary report on the potential environmental impacts of closing the so-called “710 gap” by connecting with the Foothill (210) Freeway, was presented to a skeptical crowd of about 75 people at a public outreach meeting in La Cañada Flintridge Saturday as the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority explores various tunnel options.
Residents in La Cañada and Pasadena fear connecting the two freeways will mean more trucks, noise and pollution.
But MTA officials on Saturday said most trucks would either unload their cargo in downtown Los Angeles or continue to use the San Bernardino (10) Freeway to distribution hubs in the Inland Empire.
The additional trucks using the proposed 710 Freeway extension would represent roughly 3% of port cargo traffic, according to the MTA.