Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In
Caltrans

Superfund, Fault Lines, Groundwater All in the Way…Let’s Dig a Tunnel!

Screen_shot_2009_11_18_at_8.41.40_AM.pngMap of fault lines and recent earthquakes in Southern California. Map: USGS.gov

I wonder if it's still too soon to criticize the concept of digging a tunnel to connect the 710 Tunnel to the I-210.

To the absolute surprise of nobody that's ever dealt with a freeway agency, a study completed by Caltrans gives the green light, at least scientifically speaking, for California to have its very own big dig.  A geological study of the area determined that digging the tunnel is scientifically possible, although it does not give a recommendation on what of the five routes studied would be the best place to bury our taxpayer dollars in the ground.

The Times gives an overview of the problems with each zone. For example:

Zone 4 (San Marino/Pasadena): Active faults that cross the zone are the Raymond and Alhambra Wash faults.

There is one Superfund site in the southwestern end of the zone.

There are also six other sites with various levels of soil contamination.

Add in some public opposition and you have a challenge!  There's nothing that transportation agencies like more than dealing with a challenge!  So the project is an unpopular, environmental disaster that's going to require tunneling around some fault lines and super fund sites.  That's why we employ traffic engineers who know how to move cars.

Public hearings will be held early next year before the report is finalized.  Hopefully we'll get the word from Caltrans that it's ok to start criticizing the project sometime before then.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Los Angeles

Metro To Open D Line Subway Extension By March 2026

The 4-mile Metro D Line Extension Section 1 will extend from Wilshire/Western in Koreatown to La Cienega/Wilshire in Beverly Hills

October 15, 2025

This Week In Livable Streets

Metro board committee meetings, 710 Freeway, East SFV rail, and more

October 13, 2025

CicLAvia Turns 15, Enlivens the Heart of L.A. – Open Thread

Tens of thousands of people participated in another great CicLAvia event yesterday - through Boyle Heights, Chinatown, MacArthur Park, Little Tokyo, and Downtown L.A.

October 13, 2025
See all posts