Road Construction

It's the freeway controversy that just won't quit. The fight over whether to finish the 710 Freeway -- which stops just short of South Pasadena -- has been going on for more than half a century, with the records in a 1998 federal court case so voluminous that they filled some 500 cardboard file boxes.

The half-century battle to complete the 710 Freeway through Pasadena and South Pasadena using a surface route could come to an end as early as today if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs legislation that would bar aboveground construction on a route that has long been considered the missing link in L.A.'s highway system. The bill would eliminate the possibility of completing the final leg of the 710 Freeway from where it ends at Valley Boulevard at the edge of Alhambra to Pasadena using a surface route.

Call it urban warfare for the rich and richer. Mexico City's elite is up in arms over plans to build roadway tunnels and overpasses through lovely suburban neighborhoods, a project that critics say would push the city's destructive sprawl into forests and a vital aquifer when fresh air and water are already scarce. Potential beneficiaries of the project are inhabitants of an even wealthier suburb, not to mention the politician who would get a boost from the high-profile works.

Construction began Friday on the last leg of a carpool lane for the northbound San Diego Freeway through western Los Angeles, a $1-billion project designed to ease congestion on one of the busiest traffic corridors in the nation.

President Obama announced Monday that highway projects spurred by the administration's $787-billion economic stimulus plan are coming in "ahead of schedule and under budget," but the program's early success may owe more to the depth of the economic crisis than to any newfound efficiency in Washington. State governments, facing black-hole deficits, went into overdrive to grab a share of the $28 billion for highways and bridges that was provided in the stimulus bill.

California sued the U.S. Forest Service on Thursday over plans that would open more than 500,000 acres to roads and oil drilling in the state's largest national forests. The four Southern California forests -- Los Padres, Angeles, San Bernardino and Cleveland -- comprise more than 3.5 million acres that stretch from Big Sur to the Mexican border. They provide habitat for 31 threatened or endangered animal species, including the California condor, and 29 such plant species.

The agency pushing for a toll road through San Onofre State Beach apparently didn't like being jeered by opponents during the public hearing at which the state Coastal Commission rejected its project. In an appeal to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the agency plainly pointed out that it doesn't want another round of boos and hisses by a boisterous public.

In a strong rebuke by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the agency proposing a toll road through San Onofre State Beach has been accused of making false and misleading statements in an appeal to federal officials. Col. Thomas H.

Inside Tom W. Bogard's office, maps are everywhere. They help the highway director for the Orange County Transportation Authority see the future -- or at least where the next caution signs for construction will be posted. Over the next five years, Bogard and his counterparts in neighboring counties will act as railroad yardmasters, coordinating projects to relieve congestion so they are spaced apart and done mostly at night, so commuters can avoid delays.

An agreement to protect wildlife was announced Friday between the toll road agency and a state agency on the proposed extension of an Orange County toll road, a controversial link that would cut through a popular state park and famed surf spot. Proponents said the agreement helps breathe new life into the proposed toll road extension, which has divided politicians, environmentalists and transportation planners for years. Opponents dismissed it as insignificant.