Legislation that would have given Alhambra and Pasadena control over the loose ends, or “stubs,” of the 710 Freeway died because of a lack of support in a state committee this week.

Currently, the 710 ends at Valley Boulevard in Alhambra, and it had been planned to extend to the 210 Freeway via a stub Caltrans owns that currently ends at California Boulevard. Assembly Bill 533, authored by Assemblyman Chris Holden, D-Pasadena, would have removed that long-planned portion of the 710 from the state highway code and would have given the land on which those stubs exist back to Alhambra, Pasadena and Los Angeles in the El Sereno neighborhood.

As a result, the 710 would end at the 10 Freeway, and the stub in Pasadena could be eliminated entirely.

However, when Holden presented the bill to the state Senate Transportation and Housing Committee on Tuesday afternoon, the committee took no action, effectively killing the bill for the current legislative session.

“The bill would have meant the closure of this last-60-year chapter and allow for a bright future,” Holden said Wednesday. “The cities would have been able to plan to use the space, maybe for affordable housing or large park areas.”

Holden had previously introduced legislation in 2017 to kill the freeway extension.

The 710 had for decades divided Alhambra with its neighbors to the north, Pasadena and South Pasadena, with the former pushing for the freeway’s completion and the latter two standing in opposition. But with Metro pulling support for a tunnel that would have been part of the extension, Alhambra has shifted its focus away from the 710’s completion to working with its neighboring cities on other transportation solutions.

On Monday, Alhambra Mayor Jeff Maloney submitted a letter of support for the bill on behalf of the city, writing that the city would work with L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger to turn the 50 acres of land into park space.

“Fifty acres of greenspace in the Los Angeles area is a rarity and something the Alhambra residents deserve after being plagued for decades with a corridor of gridlock,” Maloney wrote.

Pasadena has considered options for what to do with the stub, including creating a surface-level boulevard and new neighborhoods.

City Manager Steve Mermell said in an email the city is eager to re-integrate the stub into the city to use for the community’s benefit.

“We are all hopeful that AB 533 would have furthered that effort,” Mermell said in the email. “We look forward to working with our state representatives to achieve our ultimate goal.”

In making his recommendation that the committee take no action, state Sen. Jim Beall, D-Campbell, mentioned that in making his decision to recommend no action on AB 533, he considered that state Sen. Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge, had opposed the bill.

Portantino, who has long opposed the completion of the 710, couldn’t support the bill because its amendments were made after the committee’s deadline, he said, adding decisions about such a major issue should not be made so hastily.

“Issues surrounding the 710 are 60 years old, and I understand the decision to not advance last-minute amendments after the required deadline and before the (environmental analysis) is certified,” Portantino said in a statement.

Holden said he intends to seek other legislative options and will bring the bill forward again in the 2019 legislative session.

At the same time, he said, it was disheartening to thing that a bill presented without opposition might have been undermined by a fellow local legislator.

“If state Sen. Portantino was part of that conversation to kill the bill, shame on him,” Holden said. “It makes no sense. The cities were aligned — this was a no-brainer.”