SGV Connect 82 – With the 710 Tunnel Not Happening, Alhambra Prepares for the Future

In this week’s podcast, Kris Fortin speaks with city of Alhambra Vice Mayor Jeff Maloney about “Advancing Alhambra” the city’s plans for re-envisioning its roads after the 2017 Metro decision to not move forward with extending the 710 Freeway by building multi-billion-dollar tunnels.

For decades, Alhambra had been one of the cities most vocal in support of extending the 710 up to connect to the 210. The project’s cancellation has led to new opportunities for the city to invest in transit and safe street programs. Advancing Alhambra pinpoints three interchanges and the current 710 stub for improvements that could have a dramatic impact across the whole city.

An Advancing Alhambra community input meeting is planned for tomorrow night at 6 p.m., on Zoom. Register for the meeting, here.

Early in the pre-interview portion of the podcast, Damien and Kris discuss how long they’ve been collectively covering the north 710 extension project, and how long the project existed before Streetsblog was launched in 2008 in Los Angeles. Kris brings up the nuttiest “open streets”/block party event he ever went to, that doubled as a rally for extending the 710. He wrote about that 2013 rally in Streetsblog, and if you’re interested you can read the story, here.

SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”

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