
Background Info:
Introduction
Return to the Background Index
It begins with construction trucks tearing up the community ....
Caltrans estimates that 5.6 million cubic feet of earth will be moved through South Pasadena on large trucks. This is equal to 311,000 truck trips. In order to keep the project costs down, Caltrans is moving most of this earth into South Pasadena and El Sereno. Imagine how the local streets will be torn apart, congested with cars and construction trucks.
The freeway is a 25-foot deep ditch, 350 feet wide in some locations. The ditch begins in Pasadena and stops south of Monterey Road. Dirt is then piled in 25-foot high mounds south of South Pasadena High School and into El Sereno. The highest cut slope is in South Pasadena. It is 90 feet tall, where the Braewood Estates once stood.
Caltrans estimates that it will take at least 10 years to clear the site of all the homes and begin grading operations. After grading comes concrete and asphalt trucks. Local streets will deteriorate even more, residents fight for places to park, as construction workers clog local streets for a 10-year period.
The 710 Freeway Fighters
South Pasadena, California