The Glendale City Council voted 4-1 last night to explore added legal, coalition, and lobbying options for opposing the “710 Tunnel Project Proposal” (as city attorney Scott Howard called it). Several residents appeared during public comment on this matter to thank city council for the initiative.
Dissenter Dave Weaver said he needed more information which would be developed as the project took a definite direction. Weaver said Southern Californians have appreciated all area freeways, even though communities opposed each at the time of construction.
Laura Friedman countered that the region is worse off today because before the freeways were built, a light rail system that used to serve many communities here was dismantled. Friedman opposes the 710 Tunnel project proposal as a policy matter, and advocates a rail system for moving freight from the ports through the region.
Council member Ara Najarian, who heads the MTA, was taken aback as Friedman criticized his recent MTA abstention vote on the 710 Tunnel project and questioned why Glendale city council wasn’t alerted to the matter ahead of time. Najarian explained that the vote was combined with another project that he does support, and that he’s made his position very clear and led local opposition to the tunnel well before other council members.
Following council members’ comments, city manager Jim Starbird and city attorney Scott Howard both discussed how staff would proceed to establish Glendale as a leader in opposing the multi-billion dollar CalTrans proposal.
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