BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 751|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 751
Author: Cedillo (D)
Amended: 7/13/11 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 8-0, 8/23/11
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Harman, Huff, Kehoe, Lowenthal,
Pavley, Rubio
NO VOTE RECORDED: Simitian
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 9-0, 8/25/11
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Emmerson, Lieu, Pavley,
Price, Runner, Steinberg
SUBJECT : Freeway construction
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill repeals a provision of existing law
that allows the Department of Transportation to build a
freeway without first securing a street closure agreement
with the affected local jurisdictions.
ANALYSIS : Since 1939, California law has required
Department of Transportation (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
CONTINUED
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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:
1. The freeway is in the California freeway and expressway
system and the California Transportation Commission
(CTC) has adopted a route for it.
2. Construction has commenced, but not completed, leaving
an uncompleted freeway segment.
3. Caltrans has determined that there is at least one
feasible alternative alignment for the route.
4. The CTC has certified an environmental document for the
unconstructed segment that includes consideration of the
impact of the project on the local community.
5. The unconstructed segment is within the jurisdiction of
the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority
(METRO).
6. 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
Purpose . The extension of the Long Beach Freeway
(Interstate 710 �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 deletes 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
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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
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.
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,
half-percent local transportation sales tax program
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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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Limiting construction potentially hundreds of
millions in Special*
Options cost pressures to the extent a less
expensive option is available and
feasible
* State Highway Account
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/25/11)
Cities of Burbank, Pasadena, and South Pasadena
Los Angeles Conservancy
Natural Resources Defense Council
Singer Park Neighborhood Association
JJA:kc 8/26/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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