SR-710 NORTH CORRIDOR MOBILITY IMPROVEMENTS

Project Status

On May 25, 2017, the Metro Board voted to eliminate the SR-710 North extension between Alhambra and Pasadena.  The Metro Board also redirected $708 million in Measure R funds to local road improvements to provide traffic congestion relief for the region.  In addition, funds were dedicated to cities and other areas impacted by the SR-710 North.  Under two Metro funding cycles, Alhambra received an allocation of approximately $241 million for the following Local Street/Road and Freeway Local Interchange Mobility and Operational Improvement Projects, Local Street Intersection Improvement Projects (Spot Improvements) and Intelligent Transportation System [ITS] Improvement Projects.

• I-10/ SR-710 Reconfiguration
• I-10 Fremont On and Off Ramp Reconfiguration
• I-10 Atlantic On and Off  Ramp Reconfiguration
• I-10 Garfield On and Off Ramp Reconfiguration
• Garfield Avenue Intelligent Transportation Systems/ Synchronization (Huntington to I-10)
• Fremont Avenue Intelligent Transportation Systems/ Synchronization (North City Limit to Montezuma to/ I-10)

• Fremont Avenue Bridge Improvements
• Railroad Channel Bridge Widening at Mission and Atlantic
• Railroad Channel Bridge Widening at Mission and Garfield

• Atlantic Boulevard Intelligent Transportation Systems/ Synchronization (Huntington to I-10)
• Main Street Intelligent Transportation Systems/ Synchronization (West City Limit to East City Limit)
• Mission Road Intelligent Transportation Systems/ Synchronization  (West City Limit to East City Limit)
• Valley Boulevard Intelligent Transportation Systems/ Synchronization  (West City Limit to East City Limit)

To begin work on Alhambra’s larger projects, the City retained Gibson Transportation Consulting, Inc., to develop and evaluate various alternatives for possible modifications to the current SR-710 stub, North of the I-10 to Valley Boulevard.   The Consultant also studied preliminary interchange improvements to determine if congestion can be reduced.  In order to garner support from Metro and Caltrans—who will ultimately be responsible for funding and construction of the improvements—the suggested projects need to not only improve traffic locally, but also not cause additional traffic issues in the surrounding region.

Gibson Transportation has narrowed the City’s preliminary options to some suggested alternatives that initially appear to reduce congestion and improve traffic locally without negatively impacting the region.  These options consider the conversion of the SR-710 North stub from a freeway facility to an arterial street and the potential reconfiguration of the existing I-10 interchanges at Fremont Avenue, Atlantic Boulevard, and Garfield Avenue with single-point urban interchange designs.  Now that these projects have been roughly outlined, the next steps include outreach to the public to review and provide input on the potential projects.

Attached is Gibson Transportation’s June 8, 2020 presentation to the City Council.  The City Council has directed staff to proceed with virtual outreach meetings with the various stakeholders including the community, adjacent cities, Metro and Caltrans to enable further study, revisions, or suggestions to the proposed projects.  In addition, staff has been directed to finalize the Funding Agreements with Metro and finalize the Cooperative Agreements with Caltrans, which will allow initiation of the planning and design processes.  We are early in the conceptual design process and we welcome your comments on the preliminary concepts.