Metro Board Kills Funding for 710 Tunnel Project

LOS ANGELES (May 25, 2017) — The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors today voted unanimously to end funding for the 710 tunnel project in the western San Gabriel Valley and northeast Los Angeles. The tunnel would have extended SR-710 and connected I-10 to I-210.

The board will shift hundreds of millions of dollars of funding to local projects, allowing communities to pursue sustainable transportation alternatives in line with current community needs, while avoiding significant negative impacts associated with the tunnel. 

Following is a statement from Damon Nagami, senior attorney and director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Southern California Ecosystems Project:
“The Metro Board’s vote today effectively ends the destructive 710 freeway project – a project that should have been killed years ago. It’s a real victory for El Sereno and the other 710 corridor communities that have been fighting against this ‘tunnel vision’ project and show that there are better, more sustainable options. 

“With this multi-billion dollar boondoggle in the rearview mirror, we can now invest in sensible, cost-effective transportation solutions for the region.”

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The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 2 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.