710 Vision Plan Raises Question About Traffic, Recommendations to Come Next Month

On Monday, City Councilmembers heard the culmination of three years of work by the Reconnecting Community 710 Advisory Group on the 710 stub.

The stub — a 50-acre stretch of land left behind after decades of halted freeway expansion — has long symbolized both lost opportunity and the displacement of primarily Black and Latino families whose homes were taken to make way for a freeway extension that was never completed.

Community members broadly want the 710 stub transformed into a walkable, mixed-use neighborhood that prioritizes housing, open space and local-serving businesses, while reconnecting neighborhoods divided by the freeway. Speakers highlighted pedestrian-friendly streets, parks and community-oriented design, with a focus on creating a livable area that serves Pasadena residents rather than functioning as a traffic corridor or regional pass-through.

“This is the beginning of a long conversation,” said Mayor Victor Gordo, urging colleagues and the public to view the workshop as an opening step rather than a final decision.

The draft vision plan calls for creating a governance structure to oversee future development of the 710 corridor, along with continued coordination with state transportation agencies.

The plan also calls for new mobility connections to better link neighborhoods divided by the freeway, including a “boulevard and paseos” street network, as well as transit access and pedestrian-friendly design.

Councilmembers expressed concerns that reconfiguring the corridor would have traffic impacts.

“I am concerned about the impacts to Orange Grove,” Councilmember Steve Madison said.

“I’m concerned about the impacts to some of the surrounding neighborhoods… we have to contemplate that all the way from East Pasadena to West Pasadena and everything in between,” Madison said.

Councilmember Rick Cole pointed out that the City will always get regional traffic. Signs in Long Beach still identify the 710-Freeway’s final destination as Pasadena, even though the freeway does not come into the City.

“Of course, we have to worry about where it goes, and some of it will go away, and some of it will go elsewhere, and we have to be careful about how that’s redistributed, but we do not have to continue to route all that traffic for the convenience of out-of-town commuters,” Cole said.

A deeper discussion on traffic and infrastructure is expected to take place next month.

Councilmember Justin Jones recommended phasing in the infrastructure over time, suggesting the city take a gradual approach as it evaluates impacts to traffic and surrounding neighborhoods.

“What we have to do is figure out through different modality modes, how to move people through the corridor,” said Gordo. “And that’s the challenge, is moving people through the corridor, not necessarily cars or traffic, but people.”

Despite the discussion on traffic, Councilmembers praised the completed work.

“I am deeply impressed by and grateful for the work of the Reconnecting Communities 710 Advisory Group,” said Councilmember Jason Lyon. “As Chair Danny Parker said during his presentation tonight, their work was the first leg of a relay marathon. I am excited to take the baton of their recommendations, build on their excellent ideas, and continue the process of taking this project from vision to reality. We still have a long way to go, but the Advisory Group has laid a great foundation for the city’s work going forward.”

City staff is expected to return in two weeks with refined recommendations, incorporating direction from Councilmembers and feedback from the public before any formal action is taken.

According to National Public Radio, the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 routed some highways directly through Black and Brown communities.

Locally efforts were made to keep freeways away from the Tournament of Roses, Caltech and the Pasadena Playhouse and instead route them through minority communities like Central and Northwest Pasadena.

On Nov. 18, 1964, the California Highway Commission determined the final five miles of freeway — now known as the SR 710 — would go through Pasadena, South Pasadena and El Sereno to complete the Long Beach Freeway.

At least 4,000 residents were displaced and 1,500 homes and commercial buildings were demolished.

Many of those homes were owned or rented by low-income residents and people of color.

The state has finally begun the slow bureaucratic process of selling the homes that were not destroyed, many of them are severely dilapidated and in need of major repairs.

Central to the proposal is a restorative justice framework aimed at acknowledging and addressing the displacement of people of color, including financial assistance for qualifying displaced residents, potentially including payments of up to $150,000 to help restore lost generational wealth, though eligibility criteria have yet to be defined.

“Circumstances surrounding the 710 are not unique to Pasadena, but part of a broader design of coordinated systems of oppression that disenfranchised people of color nationwide,” said Tina Williams who chaired the Restorative Justice Committee. “In this instance, the discriminatory tools were the building of the 210 and the partial building of the 710 freeways … Pasadena mirrored national trends in housing discrimination during the freeway development era. Likewise, about 60% of Pasadena properties had restrictive covenant clauses and property deeds that prohibited sales based on race or ethnicity.”

According to a report by UCLA, in 1950 the neighborhood where the 710 interchange was built was a diverse community where people of color made up the majority. By 1980, that share had dropped to 23%. By 1980, fewer than 100 Black residents lived in the area.

The plan recommends a formal public acknowledgment of those harmed and outlines a range of potential programs, including affordable housing targets, workforce development initiatives and wealth-building opportunities for impacted residents. Among the most ambitious elements is a goal to build at least 1,800 housing units, with a mix of rental and ownership options across varying levels of affordability.

The vision also outlined two primary development concepts — “Gardens and Terraces” and “Boulevards and Paseos” — both designed to reconnect neighborhoods divided by the freeway while underscoring walkability, green space and multimodal transportation.

“This project has a Pasadena stamp,” said Danny Parker, who chaired the advisory group. “It should be something that reflects the values of this community, the history, this city’s DNA. We don’t want something that looks like a cookie cutter suburban project that would belong in Anywhere, USA.”