BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE       BILL NO:   AB 751
          SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN              AUTHOR:    cedillo
                                                         VERSION:   
          7/13/11
          Analysis by:  Art Bauer                        FISCAL:    Yes
          Hearing date:  August 23, 2011                     URGENCY: YES



          SUBJECT: 

          Freeway construction

          DESCRIPTION: 

          This bill repeals a provision of existing law that allows the 
          California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to build a 
          freeway without first securing a street closure agreement with 
          the affected local jurisdictions.  


          ANALYSIS:

          Since 1939, California law has required Caltrans to enter into 
          an agreement with a city or county that will have a street 
          permanently closed due to freeway construction through the 
          community.  In lieu of closing a street, Caltrans, with the 
          concurrence of a local agency, may construct a new alignment for 
          the local road as part of the freeway project 

          Existing law, since 1981, provides an exemption to the street 
          closure provision if the following conditions are met:

                 The freeway is in the California freeway and expressway 
               system and the California Transportation Commission (CTC) 
               has adopted a route for it. 

                 Construction has commenced, but not completed, leaving 
               an uncompleted freeway segment. 

                 Caltrans has determined that there is at least one 
               feasible alternative alignment for the route.

                 The CTC has certified an environmental document for the 
               unconstructed segment that includes consideration of the 
               impact of the project on the local community. 




          AB 751 (CEDILLO)                                       Page 2

                                                                       



                 The unconstructed segment is within the jurisdiction of 
               the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority 
               (METRO).

                 Caltrans has been at an impasse on a street closure 
               agreement for ten years or more.

          If the above conditions are met, the CTC may adopt an alignment 
            after a public hearing.

                
           This bill  deletes from existing law Caltrans' exemption from the 
          street closure provision.

          COMMENTS:

              1.   Purpose  .  The extension of the Long Beach Freeway 
               (I-710) from its terminus in the City of Alhambra to a 
               connection with the intersection of the Foothill Freeway 
               (I-210) and State Route 134 is noteworthy for its litigious 
               history.  This bill would delete law enacted in 1981 that 
               attempted to resolve the disputes over the various proposed 
               alignments developed by Caltrans and allow construction to 
               begin.  Caltrans has never exercised the authority in the 
               1981 law.  

                Statute first defined the predecessor to the I-710 in 1933, 
               and in 1947, the Legislature added the extension through 
               Alhambra, South Pasadena, and Pasadena to the description 
               of the freeway.  In 1959, the state included the I-710 in 
               the state freeway and expressway system and completed the 
               I-710 present terminus in 1965.  The California Highway 
               Commission, the CTC's predecessor, adopted a route to 
               extend the freeway through South Pasadena and Pasadena to 
               I-210 in 1964.
                
                By the time Caltrans began designing the project, the area 
               had become heavily urbanized, and several homes in South 
               Pasadena were found to be architecturally significant.  
               Because of the impact on its community, South Pasadena 
               refused to sign a street closure agreement with Caltrans.  
               Further, community groups and South Pasadena sued over the 
               adequacy of the environmental documents for the extension, 
               resulting in the court enjoining Caltrans from constructing 
               the I-710 extension from 1973 to 1998.  After the court 




          AB 751 (CEDILLO)                                       Page 3

                                                                       


               agreed that Caltrans prepared an adequate environmental 
               document, the Federal Highway Administration authorized the 
               construction of a project.  The CTC also approved the 
               project, but in 1999, the court once again enjoined 
               Caltrans from further work because it had not adequately 
               considered the air quality impacts of the extension. 
               Finally, the CTC withdrew its approval of the project in 
               2004. 

               With the removal of the exemption from street closure 
               agreement, it is unlikely that a surface highway extension 
               of the I-710 will be constructed because South Pasadena 
               could refuse to enter into an agreement with Caltrans. 
                
             2.   Tunnel Alternative  .  In the last decade, proponents of 
               the I-710 have explored the concept of constructing a 
               tunnel in the freeway corridor to close the gap between the 
               existing terminus of the I-710 in Alhambra and the 
               I-210/State Route 134.  After analyzing the concept, METRO 
               determined that the tunnel alternative is feasible and 
               included $1 billion for the project in its Measure R, 
               -percent local transportation sales tax program approved 
               by the voters in 2008. In addition, METRO has included the 
               project in a preliminary program of public private 
               partnership projects that it intends to pursue.  In the 
               meantime, Caltrans is preparing an environmental analysis 
               of the tunnel alternative. 

              3.   Support and opposition to the bill  .  Over the years, 
               local governments, community groups, preservationists, and 
               other similar interests have opposed the freeway but have 
               now removed their opposition.  The City of South Pasadena 
               supports this bill because it restores the applicability of 
               the street closure agreement, which allows the city to 
               prevent the construction of a surface freeway through its 
               jurisdiction.  Community groups, such as the Singer Park 
               Neighborhood Association of Pasadena and the Los Angeles 
               Conservancy support this bill as well.  The only 
               significant opposition to this bill is the San Gabriel 
               Valley Association of Governments, which believes that 
               removing the exemption from the street closure agreement 
               "has the potential to derail the significant progress that 
               has been recently been made on the 710 gap closure 
               project."

              4.   Previous version of this bill .  The current language of 




          AB 751 (CEDILLO)                                       Page 4

                                                                       


               AB 751 was originally in another bill which passed the 
               Assembly.  The language of that bill was deleted and 
               amended into AB 751.  The votes shown below reflect the 
               action taken on the predecessor to AB 751.  

          Assembly Votes:
               Floor:    55-8
               Appr: 13-2
               Trans:    11-0

          POSITIONS:  (Communicated to the Committee before noon on 
          Wednesday,
                     August 17, 2011)

               SUPPORT:  City of Burbank
                         City of Pasadena
                                                 City of South Pasadena
                                                 Los Angeles Conservancy
                         Natural Resources Defense Council
                         Singer Park Neighborhood Association
          

               OPPOSED:  San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments