Metro Committee Advances Hahn’s Motion for Alternatives to Widening 710 Freeway

LOS ANGELES — A committee of the Metro board of directors May 18, voted to advance a motion authored by Supervisor Janice Hahn to end a decades-long effort to widen the 710 freeway. The long-planned widening would have destroyed homes and neighborhoods in Southeast Los Angeles, displacing families living along the freeway. With the committee’s unanimous approval, the motion moves on to consideration by the full Metro Board next week. 

Early last year, federal and state agencies denied the approval of an environmental impact report for the widening, prompting Metro to explore alternatives to widening in consultation with local groups. With her motion, which is co-authored by Supervisor Hilda Solis, Supervisor Holly Mitchell, and Director Fernando Dutra, Supervisor Hahn proposes using the $750 million in local sales taxes already dedicated to the project to invest in more innovative solutions to traffic congestion, air pollution, street safety challenges and other problems communities along the 710 face.

Since the widening of the 710 freeway was first proposed two decades ago, the project has faced opposition from community groups along the corridor. The decision to move away from widening and Supervisor Hahn’s motion to direct funding to improvements instead was met with support from a wide range of stakeholders from environmental organizations to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. 

 If passed by the full Metro board, the motion will do four things:

1. Direct staff to come back to the board in June with new project vision and objectives, after final consultation with the 710 Task Force
2. Call for the project to be renamed to shift focus from being just on the freeway to addressing the broader issues of air quality, goods movement, mobility and safety in the corridor cities
3. Remove capacity enhancing freeway widening from the project altogether
4. Direct staff to create an investment plan, with short- and mid- and long-term initiatives, with at least three initiatives to request funding in 2022, as informed by the Task Force.

The motion moves to the full Metro board of directors for a vote during their regular meeting on May 26.