Rep. Schiff Writes Letter to Metro Board Members Opposing 710 Tunnel Alternative After EIR Released

Statement

Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) sent a letter to Chairman Eric Garcetti and members of the Los Angeles Metro Board opposing the SR 710 North freeway tunnel alternative proposed in the SR 710 North Study by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). In the letter, Schiff pushes the Board and Metro to instead study a more innovative, multimodal approach, combining mass transit, bikeways, new parks to improve air quality and more efficient ways of moving cargo.

"Metro could help reshape the transportation future of Los Angeles by thinking outside the box to get people outside their vehicles, by integrating parks and better urban planning, smart traffic lights and smarter mass transit, all of this and more, and all for less than the cost of a tunnel," said Schiff. "At the beginning of this process, many in the community were afraid that Metro would plow ahead with a predetermined conclusion that the freeway must be finished, and other ideas would only be entertained so that they might be rejected in a process with only the appearance of deliberation. As the challenges facing Los Angeles are new, I urge Metro to think anew, reject the tunnel, and give serious consideration to other, more forward thinking and more suitable options."

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