Gold Line Light Rail | Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport | Securing Low Pollution Buses | Maintaining Highways and Infrastructure | Study of Tunnel Alternative to Close 710 Freeway Gap |

As our community expands, so too does the population of commuters, the number of vehicles, and vehicle emissions. Therefore, it has been my goal to work to improve traffic flow in our community.

Gold Line Light Rail Expansion

As a State Senator, I introduced legislation to establish the Blue Line Construction Authority, and succeeded in putting this vital project back on track. I have also worked with the San Gabriel Valley Congressional delegation to secure federal assistance for this vital project. I am proud to announce that the Blue Line - now renamed the Gold Line - has recently been completed, on time and under budget, linking downtown Los Angeles with Pasadena.

The Gold Line will move tens of thousands of passengers every day swiftly and inexpensively. These are passengers who would otherwise be driving through our streets, and the success of the light rail should provide real traffic congestion relief. In addition, many of our communities operate around-town shuttle buses, and I was able to secure federal funding for additional low-polluting buses.

Further, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation has included $750,000 in its FY 04 spending bill for the City of Pasadena to construct a pedestrian bridge over the 210 Freeway to the Sierra Madre Villa Station of the Pasadena Gold Line.

The construction of the pedestrian bridge is integral to the overall efficiency and success of the Pasadena Gold Line. Pedestrian access to the southern end of the station over the busy 210 Freeway is essential to encourage broad use of the rail line in Pasadena.

To read my statement in honor of the Gold Line's Grand Opening, click here.

Study Tunnel Alternative to Close 710 Freeway Gap

The 710 Freeway gap, between Valley Blvd. in the south to the 210-134 Interchange in the north, is approximately 4.5 miles long and has been the source of bitter debate for decades. I have recently submitted a request to the House Transportation Committee to fund a study to evaluate a tunnel alternative to close the 710 Freeway gap. I believe that the tunnel concept should be thoroughly examined.

For over thirty years our communities have struggled to find a way to improve traffic flow in the 710 corridor without destroying the quality of life in communities along its proposed path. If the tunnel concept is economically, environmentally, and technically sound, we may find that the elusive common ground is underground.

For more information, please click here.

Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Expansion

I have long supported a curfew and other protections for the residents who must bear the burden of airport noise and congestion. As a member of the Congressional Airport Noise Caucus, and I am working with my colleagues to create and promote policies aimed at protecting constituents from aircraft noise. The Airport Authority has been awarded $1.98 million in federal funding to install a special safety surface at the end of the east-west landing runway designed to stop runaway jets. In the wake of the 2000 accident involving the Southwest Airlines jet that overshot the runway and ended up in the middle of Hollywood Way, Burbank Airport is taking action to install this runway surface designed to safely stop runaway jets. I applaud the Department of Transportation for granting these two funding requests, and I will work to make sure these funds are administered promptly and effectively. While in the State Senate, I also successfully secured funding to help build a "hush house" at the airport for pilots of small planes to warm up their engines without disturbing neighborhood residents.

As a Congressional representative of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport, I have sought to help protect the residents affected by aircraft noise, and to ensure that safety is a top priority at the airport. That is why I was very pleased to learn from the U.S. Department of Transportation that the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority has been awarded $10 million in federal funding to be used to noise-insulate approximately 372 homes in Burbank and Los Angeles. The homes selected for the noise-insulation program by the Airport Authority will receive new windows, doors, attic insulation, weather-stripping and, if needed, new central air-conditioning and heating equipment.

In 2003, Reps. Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Howard Berman (D-CA), joined me in hosting a Capitol Hill meeting with FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, representatives of the Cities of Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Los Angeles, and the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority Commission to discuss solutions to the Burbank Airport dispute about constructing a new terminal. We presented a unified front to the FAA Administrator and made our case that any decision making process pertaining to Burbank Airport should be locally driven. My colleagues and I support a curfew and other noise abatement measures and will continue to pursue these matters as this discussion continues.

To read more information about the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Expansion, please click here.

Securing Low-Pollution Buses

Low cost, low emissions public transportation is integral to our district's communities. In 2001, I was very pleased to be able to secure federal funding for three of our district's bus lines including $400,000 for the purchase of alternative fuel buses for Pasadena's Area Rapid Transit System (ARTS), and $300,000 for compressed natural gas buses for the Glendale Beeline.

The 2003 Federal Appropriations bill granted $150,000 in federal funds for the City of South Pasadena's Circulator Bus system to serve the Gold Line light rail Mission Street station in South Pasadena. The Gold Line light rail will provide substantial improvements in air quality and congestion by getting people out of their cars - but people need to get to the Gold Line and for that reason these buses will be invaluable.

Maintaining Highways and Infrastructure

I am also a cosponsor of H.R. 2180, the Safe Highways and Infrastructure Preservation Act. This legislation reasserts the federal role in overseeing and enforcing truck size and weight limits for the national highway system, and will close loopholes in current law that have resulted in a proliferation of legally-overweight truck operations on the national interstate system.