The available funding could shift transportation priorities in Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley. But transportation leaders appear to be leaning toward more of the same.
The decision to kill plans to close the Interstate 710 gap left $400 million on the table to fund other transportation projects. With a steady stream of dire warnings about climate change, Carter Rubin says this is a major opportunity to change the course of the San Gabriel Valley's environmental future. The cities that would have been affected by the 710 project are located there, and these communities still face threats from the effects of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Rubin wants to see the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority make investments in sustainable transportation, but he says Metro's board of directors is not heading in that direction. Instead, it is considering a package of road projects, including plans to widen a number of roads, despite the fact that cities in the San Gabriel Valley asked for funding for public transit improvements.
He says these projects were developed with little input from these communities. "It’s time for Metro Directors to send this back to the drawing board, generate a true public process centered in the values of community health, equity and sustainability, and produce a list of projects that reduce vehicle emissions, improve mobility for those who need it most, and ensure the residents of the San Gabriel Valley can finally breathe clean air," urges Rubin.
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