Much has transpired since our last official statement about the freeway in 1991. Last year, then Federal Highway Administrator Thomas Larson attempted to approve the freeway as one of his last official actions. We believe the freeway tide crested with his betrayal. This special edition of the South Pasadena Quarterly is devoted to the Route 710 Freeway extension. It is both informational and a call to action.

Before he signaled his duplicity, Mr. Larson asked us to sit down as members of the Route 710 Mitigation Advisory Committee. We asked that all issues be discussed by the Committee, including "non-freeway" solutions to local traffic problems. We had also asked that all "stakeholders" be able to attend, including our school district and community members from El Sereno.

We left the Committee because the members were not discussing the issues in good faith and not discussing the impacts with those who would be most affected. The Committee did do one thing for South Pasadena and the freeway opponents. Even with its flaws, it showed that the freeway's social, economic, environmental, historial and community impacts are unacceptable. This edition of the Quarterly contains some of the Committee's findings, including the devastation to the South Pasadena Unified School District. However, a final analysis will show that what is important about the Committee is what it did NOT discuss.

The 710 Freeway extension is not approved. The President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has asked that two major issues be resolved. The first issue revolves around Caltrans' failure to provide accurate information on the impacts of historic resources. The City-hired historian found an additional three potential historic districts and dozens of significant structures missing from the Caltrans inventory. This issue illustrates just how bad Caltrans' documents can be and, in fact, are.

CEQ has asked that the controversies surrounding the "low build" solution be resolved. We have begun the difficult process of sorting out a "low build" solution to the freeway. No one knows at this time what the eventual solution will be. Hard work and community input will find the right solution. In this issue of the South Pasadena Quarterly, there is a feature devoted to the possibilities of a "low build" solution. Several things we do know now. "Low build" can be implemented at a fraction of the $1.1 billion cost of the freeway extension, and it can be built to solve local traffic problems now and not in the 20 years it will take to fund the freeway.

Enjoy this special edition of the South Pasadena Quarterly. It is produced as part resource document and part call to community action. The 710 Freeway extension has been stopped since 1949 due to community resolve. The community did not have many friends years ago when we stated that freeways would some day be jammed with vehicles. We continue to gather friends opposed to the devastation of the freeway, friends who see that we cannot depend solely on freeways. Communicate your concerns of the freeway and resolve to end the 710 Freeway extension.

For an update on the 710 Freeway information, please call the Freeway Hotline at (626) 799-5912.