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Exciting news! Today the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Board voted unanimously to end the 50-year debate over the SR-710 freeway “connector” in California’s San Gabriel Valley, removing the potential of exorbitant costs and destructive effects of a 5.4-mile, 60-foot-wide tunnel proposal to the Historic Communities of the 710.

This vote is a major step forward that will finally allow these communities—included on our annual list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in the 1980s and named a National Treasure in 2015—to pursue strategic, sustainable, multi-modal projects that will enhance mobility for the region.

We join our partners in the Connected Cities and Communities (C3) coalition—the cities of Glendale, Pasadena, La Cañada-Flintridge, South Pasadena and Sierra Madre, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the No 710 Action Committee—in applauding this vote as a forward-thinking and cost-effective solution for the region’s transportation needs.

National Trust President and CEO Stephanie Meeks said, "We have advocated for a solution that addresses the growing region’s need for equitable transportation while preserving its unique history. As such, we are pleased that today’s Metro Board decision will enhance the character and identity that makes these diverse communities thrive.”

Dozens of reporters and tv cameras gathered in front of the headquarters of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) for the announcement of a new coalition formed to fight a proposed 5-mile SR-710 freeway tunnel that would be constructed under some of the oldest and most historic neighborhoods in East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley. A number of cities, organizations and grassroots groups have banded together with the National Trust to support Beyond the 710, which is strongly opposed to the tunnel and is promoting a new approach to regional transportation options.

Car-centric LA is rapidly becoming more accepting of other modes of transportation, with an expanding light rail network, one of the largest bus systems in the country, and a rapidly growing hundreds of miles of bike and pedestrian routes. The Trust and the other members of Beyond the 710 believe continuing these policies is a much more economical, more effective, and much less destructive solution to the region’s transportation needs. By focusing on strategic projects that help move people--rather than just move cars--we can get people where they want to go. And we also avoid the tremendous risks associated with what would be the largest tunneling project ever undertaken in the US. A project that would take nearly a decade to build, cost billions to construct, crosses four fault lines, and runs underneath dense residential and commercial districts that are filled with historic districts and individual landmarks. You only need to look to the catastrophic failure of similar project in Seattle to understand why the SR-710 is such ill-conceived project.

Because of these serious risks to the overlying historic communities, and our on-going support for policies that make cities more livable, accessible and affordable, the National Trust officially joined the Beyond the 710 campaign and named this one of our National Treasures.

To continue the momentum from yesterday’s press event, NTHP staff and our partners from Pasadena Heritage, No 710 Action Committee, and other supporting organization will don our new “Beyond the 710” t-shirts this Sunday to ride in the Pasadena Ciclavia, an incredibly popular event when city streets are closed to cars for the day and turned over to biker, skaters and walkers.