$5.4 Billion Freeway Plan Would Tunnel Under South Pasadena

Rong-Gong Lin II, Doug Stevens and Javier Zarracina provide coverage of a plan to tunnel under the cities of South Pasadena and Pasadena to complete the 710 freeway connection to the 210 freeway in Pasadena. Completing the 710 has long been extremely controversial, and the tunnel plan is considered a compromise solution to close the gap in the region's freeway network.

The article is mostly made up of graphics (one is even animated!) and maps of the potential tunnel's route. If built, the tunnel would cost $5.4 billion (less than the $6.3 billion cost for the planned Purple Line subway extension) and would become the longest tunnel in the state for auto traffic.

As for next steps, the article reports: "Caltrans and Metro will release a draft environmental report in February evaluating the freeway tunnel, mass transit and street-widening options; the public will have three months to provide comment."