Newsletter
Rose Bowl EIR: Significant Impacts Remain
The city has issued its draft Environmental Impact Report on the
proposed Rose Bowl renovation project – and the picture isn’t
pretty. Made public in February, the 470-page document describes the
environmental impacts associated with implementing the $450 million-
plus plan to modernize the 83-year-old Rose Bowl to accommodate a
National Football League team. A City Council vote to certify the
EIR and approve the project is expected in early May.
‘Where Appropriate’
The renovation project studied in the EIR is the Rose Bowl design
unveiled last year. It would add about 800,000 sq. ft. to the Bowl,
including three levels of luxury suites, two open-air concourses, a
Club lounge, and a Hall of Fame and team store. At the same time,
seating capacity would be reduced to 65,000 from the current 92,000,
but temporary seats could be added for a maximum capacity of 75,000.
The EIR analyzes 13 specific issue areas (e.g., transportation/
traffic, noise, air quality, aesthetics, cultural resources) and
recommends mitigation measures "where appropriate." To no one’s
surprise, "where appropriate" applies to 11 of the 13 issue areas.
Most of the negative impacts can be mitigated to a "less than
significant" category, according to city staffers and consultants
who prepared the EIR. But "significant and unavoidable"
environmental impacts remain in several key categories, including
traffic, noise, and historic preservation, because no mitigation is
feasible.
Comment Period Ends
Four alternatives are examined in the EIR, including "no project"
(maintaining the status quo), a stadium design plan unveiled in 2003
that puts most of the new structures underground but is considered
too expensive by the NFL, and a less ambitious stadium renovation
that would not meet the NFL’s objectives. A 45-day public comment
period ended March 21. During April, the draft document will be
finalized for presentation to the Rose Bowl Operating Co. board of
directors, which manages the stadium for the city. City Council
would then have the final word.
Pasadena is one of four Southern California communities
contending for an NFL franchise. If the bid is successful,
construction would begin in late 2006 and be completed in time for
the 2008 NFL season. This, at least, is the plan.
Traffic Impact
Of the 13 issue areas studied in the draft EIR, none is more
critical to Linda Vista residents than the issue area of traffic.
The report analyzes existing traffic volumes along 13 west Pasadena
street segments and at 26 intersections, then looks ahead to the
year 2008 when up to 13 NFL games might be played in the remodeled
stadium.
In the section on "Significant and Unavoidable Impacts," the EIR
states flatly: "Implementation of the proposed project would result
in significant adverse impacts on traffic and circulation at the
study intersections during both weekday and weekend special events
at the stadium."
(It is anticipated that, besides the regular NFL week-end games,
at least three games would be played on weekday evenings, in which
case 20 of the 26 studied intersections would experience significant
negative impacts. A weekday game could generate almost 38,000 new
daily car trips -- half inbound, half outbound — over a 24-hour
period. Weekend games would have a significant impact on slightly
fewer intersections.)
Problems At Parsons
The situation gets no better looking eastward to the Parsons
complex on W. Walnut St. where thousands of UCLA football fans now
park and board shuttle buses to the Rose Bowl on Saturdays. Says the
EIR: "Utilization of off-site parking at the Parsons complex during
the weekday p.m. arrival peak period would result in significant
adverse impacts on traffic and circulation at (six of nine) study
intersections in the vicinity of the complex."
Another paragraph in the EIR describes the adverse effects that
would be experienced along 13 street segments in the vicinity of the
Rose Bowl.
(At a public forum on March 5, Vince Farhat, a member of the
city’s Transportation Advisory Commission, expressed dismay that the
EIR’s traffic calculations deal only with the potential impact of
cars coming on and off the 134 and 210 freeways, but not the 110
freeway. No intersections south of California Blvd. have been
analyzed in the EIR, Farhat noted, even though "everyone knows that
people coming to UCLA football games use the 110 and get off at
Orange Grove and Arroyo Parkway.")
Mitigation Measures
How does the EIR propose to mitigate these various impacts? It
calls for "new strategies" to be employed, including a pre-paid,
pre-assigned parking program for luxury suite, Club level and some
general admission season ticket holders. Program participants would
be directed to a designated parking area via a designate travel
route. The EIR also proposes deployment of traffic control officers
to eight more key intersections on game day and creation of a
comprehensive marketing program to educate motorists about the
regional freeway system.
The EIR concedes, however, that these mitigations would not be
enough to reduce the traffic impact to "less than significant".
Construction Activity
One final set of traffic-related numbers dealing with excavation
and construction activity during the Rose Bowl’s renovation:
"During peak excavation activities, a total of approx. 3,000
cubic yards of material per day may need to be removed. Based on
utilization of semi-dump trailers with a capacity of 20 cubic yards,
approx. 54 trucks would be necessary.…This activity would require up
to approximately five months….During non-excavation phases, an
average of between 25 and 35 trucks per day, six days a week, can be
anticipated."
The construction haul route will include use of Seco St.,
Mountain St., and the 210 freeway. "No other road-ways are
anticipated to be utilized by construction vehicles at this time,"
states the EIR. Construction will occur during hours consistent with
the city’s noise ordinance – 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Construction workers
will arrive and depart the site during off-peak hours.
By way of mitigation, a comprehensive Construction Staging and
Traffic Management Plan will be required by the city before the
issuance of a building permit. The plan is expected to prohibit
parking by construction workers on adjacent streets, limit the
frequency of lane closings, and coordinate delivery schedules.
As for other concerns raised by the renovation project:
- Will changes in the Bowl’s design mean a loss of the stadium’s
National Historic Landmark status?
- How will recreational uses of the Brookside area be affected?
One analysis shows that the Central Arroyo will be off-limits to
the community one weekend day, every weekend from August through
January.
- How will Brookside Golf Course be impacted by the additional
days of Bowl parking?
- What about rainy day parking on neighborhood streets? Will
extra policing be available?
