To the surprise of nobody, the California Transportation Commission unanimously moved forward with funding for dozens of highway projects as recommended by staff. Included was $600 million to fund all of the half-dozen expansion projects opposed by a coalition of smart growth, transportation, and environmental advocates.
For most of the projects, there was little drama. A parade of elected officials and public servants in the transportation sector came to the microphone during public comment to praise the commissioners and the projects. Occasionally, an advocate would also testify, pleading for the Commission to live up to its stated goals of protecting the environment and fighting climate change.
Before the final vote to fund the project list that included the controversial 71 Freeway expansion "Gap Closure" project in Los Angeles County and the SR 37 Sears Point to Mare Island Widening project in Solano and Sonoma counties, Commissioner Zahirah Mann from Los Angeles offered the project sponsors a chance to address some of the charges against their projects.
Located in Pomona, the 71 Freeway expansion was approved in 1989. Caltrans and Metro plan to widen an existing four lane highway to eight lanes, doubling capacity by adding a general purpose lane and HOV lane in each direction. The 71 project extends from the 10/57 interchange to near the L.A./San Bernardino County border. Phase 1 of the project is already under construction.
The Highway 71 project has been assailed because Caltrans and Metro displaced about two dozen families who lost their houses to make way for the expanded freeway footprint. Caltrans and Metro have played somewhat fast and loose with project phasing. Current phase 1 construction is utilizing funding obtained in part to support for a pedestrian bridge, but the project length was shortened, pushing the bridge into second phase. Activists argued the project was phased to allow highway builders to skirt environmental laws; two small projects each are easier to clear than one large one.
Caltrans staff acknowledged both the split and relocations, but cast them both in a more positive light and noted that whatever damage was done was already done. (Note that a lone household is still holding off Caltrans' push to relocate.) Approving the project and widening the 71 in L.A. County will bring benefits, they asserted, by reducing congestion in a highly trafficked freight corridor. There was no mention of induced demand or the environmental damage more traffic could bring to the area.
As has been covered several times, the SR 37 widening project is one of the most controversial in the state for many reasons: it is an expensive temporary project until a new highway can be built, it cuts through an environmentally sensitive wetlands and, oh yes, a state study shows the entire highway might be underwater by 2050.
State legislation is moving that would end the legal - but not moral - question of whether or not the environmentally sensitive wetlands are an issue, and Caltrans District 4 Deputy for Program and Project Management Doanh Nguyen argued that studies made after the famous 2020 projection that the highway would be underwater now show the highway will only possibly be underwater and there will be a high frequency of flooding.
“Based on the best available science that we have at this point, with the funding approval, we would be able to finish construction and realize the benefit for the corridor up to 2050,” Nguyen concluded.
Caltrans is currently working on a permanent project for the area, a $10 billion new highway that would be elevated against the rising tides caused in large part by global warming and climate change.
