It’s a real shame to see so many chronic knee-jerk sufferers contorting themselves over the 710 extension. We need the 710 to connect to the 210, because without it, the 5 freeway is the ONLY route from the port to points north of LA.

I can appreciate how a bunch of short sighted NIMBY’s would grouse and whine about a construction project they’d never see, but as a transportation-minded Angelino who averages 3000-4000 miles a year on my bike, i’m kind of ashamed to see the LA Streetsblog taking up a defacto opposition to the project.

It’s not a foregone conclusion that the 710 is a bad idea, regardless of how many closed-minded people say it is.

I’m surprised to hear you’re not one of those willing to listen to logic. I’ve never considered you closed minded and wouldn’t have included you in that count (whether you are against the 710 in any form or not).

Regardless, the cost of a project like this is an inappropriate metric, as the project itself (an underground tunnel capable of supporting gridlocked heavy transport) is being done at the behest of the people who are literally and metaphorically in the way. The cost of the project isn’t a function of the needs of the road users, it’s a function of forces that seek to stop the project entirely. Folks like you wondering about the cost is exactly what they’d wanted all along; to price the project out of viability.

How does that help ANYBODY?

The 710 extension is a project to (a) reduce pressure on a freeway system with inadequate options by (b) giving surface transport traffic someway to get north other than the 405, 101 and 5 northbound routes. It’s not about driving home quicker or making traffic better anywhere else. Me, i’d love to see $6B spent on mass transit or a dozen other things, but that’s not even in the works. The HSR project has a much lower user-served/dollar-spent ratio, but lots of us support that anyway.

A project that can be built and needs to be built should be built. Just like the HSR, the 710-gap should be flled. The 710 gap is not about moving people, it’s about trucking goods, and it’s about trucking that is going to happen whether people like it much or not.

Affording the project is not and never has been the issue. Having it built at all is, and that’s not a money issue.