Other Agencies with Actions or Authorizations:

Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service

California

Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Description:

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), in cooperation with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), the Gateway Cities Council of Governments (Gateway Cities COG), the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), the Ports of Los Angeles (POLA) and Long Beach (POLB) (collectively known as the Ports), and the Interstate 5 Joint Powers Authority (I-5 JPA) (collectively referred to as the I-710 Funding Partners), proposes to improve Interstate 710 (I-710, also known as the Long Beach Freeway) in Los Angeles County between Ocean Blvd. and State Route 60 (SR-60). The proposed project is referred to as the I-710 Corridor Project. I-710 is a major north-south interstate freeway connecting the City of Long Beach to central Los Angeles. Within the I-710 Corridor Project Study Area (Study Area), the I-710 serves as the principal transportation connection for goods movement between POLA and POLB, located at the southern terminus of I-710 and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF Railroad)/Union Pacific Railroad (UP Railroad) rail yards in the Cities of Commerce and Vernon. The existing I-710 Corridor has elevated levels of health risks related to high levels of diesel particulate emissions, traffic congestion, high truck volumes, high accident rates, and many design features in need of modernization (the original freeway was built in the 1950s and 1960s). The I-710 Major Corridor Study (MCS; March 2005), undertaken to address the I-710 Corridor’s mobility and safety needs and to explore possible solutions for transportation improvements, was completed in March 2005 and identified a communitybased Locally Preferred Strategy consisting of ten general purpose lanes next to four separated freight- movement lanes. Subsequent to the MCS, a Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) was circulated for public review in 2012 which analyzed several build alternatives. Based on the feedback received during the 2012 public circulation period, as well as changes in key traffic conditions and traffic modeling assumptions, revised alternatives have been developed and prepared in this current Recirculated Draft Environmental Impact Report/Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (RDEIR/SDEIS). The Study Area for the I-710 Corridor The Study Area includes the portion of the I-710 Corridor from Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach to SR-60, a distance of approximately 19 miles. At the freeway-to-freeway interchanges, the Study Area extends east and west of the I-710 mainline for the Interstate 405 (I-405), State Route 91 (SR-91), Interstate 105 (I-105), and I-5 interchanges. This is the general Study Area for the I-710 Corridor Project. Specific study areas have been established for individual environmental analyses (e.g., health risk assessment area of interest or water quality areas).