A new state law officially ends the possibility of extending the 710 Freeway between Alhambra and Pasadena and sets the course for rules governing Caltrans-owned properties and development along the freeway’s once designated path in Pasadena.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 7, authored by state Sen. Anthony Portantino, D–La Cañada Flintridge, into law Sunday. The bill has several features that work together to squash the possibility of extending the freeway past its terminus in Alhambra:

The proposed freeway tunnel alternative is deemed no longer feasible for consideration.

The portion of the 710 from Alhambra Avenue in Los Angeles to California Boulevard in Pasadena will be removed from the California freeway and expressway system on Jan. 1, 2024.

State agencies that own surplus nonresidential properties must give priority to cities or nonprofit organizations to purchase the properties at the lesser of fair market value or value in use.

Caltrans can not increase the rents of tenants who live in surplus residential properties in the 710 corridor and who participate in their Affordable Rent Program, which is available to anyone who have entered into agreements to live in those properties as of July 1.

The California Transportation Commission is authorized to enter into an agreement with Pasadena to relinquish portions of the 710 to the city.

With the bill signed, Portantino thanked everyone who fought against the freeway’s completion in the past 60 years.

“Generations who have been fighting this freeway can now rest in peace knowing that they made this day happen and that the 710 Freeway will never be completed,” Portantino said in a statement.

Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek praised the legislation for ending years of uncertainty.

“It is a new day in Pasadena now that the 710 Freeway is history,” Tornek said in a statement. “This legislation ensures that outcome, and we can now focus our attention on reknitting this area back into the fabric of the city and addressing local traffic needs.”

For several years, Pasadena has considered options for the stub, including creating a surface-level boulevard and new neighborhoods where a 50-acre concrete ditch currently exists.

Alhambra had also considered its options for use of its stub if it were given control over it. One idea the city had considered was building a regional park there, and instead of spilling onto Valley Boulevard, cars would be forced to go east or west onto the 10 Freeway.

However, with Alhambra further behind it in its planning for the stub, Alhambra did not ask Caltrans to relinquish the stub to the city, City Manager Jessica Binnquist said.

After plans by Caltrans to close the 4.1-mile “710 Freeway Gap” between El Sereno, South Pasadena and Pasadena by surface or tunnel were killed in November, cities were awarded $515 million by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority for local roadway projects, money leftover from Measure R, a 2008 county sales tax ballot measure.

Portantino’s bill supersedes Assembly Bill 29, authored by Assemblyman Chris Holden, D-Pasadena, which was signed into law Saturday. Holden’s bill redefined the 710 as ending at the 10 and also prevented the freeway tunnel from reconsideration.

Neither Portantino nor Holden were available for phone interviews.

At the request of state Sen. Susan Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, Holden removed the portion of A.B. 29 that would have given control of the freeway stubs back to Alhambra and Pasadena.

Several nonprofit organizations, including the Pasadena Ronald McDonald House, Arlington Gardens, Cottage Co-op Nursery and Sequoyah School, long have sought to purchase the Caltrans-owned properties they lease, Portantino’s statement said.

The bill being signed into law makes that possible now, said Megan Foker, co-chair of the Pasadena Ronald McDonald House Board of Trustees.

“We are over the moon that we now have the ability to purchase our properties and to keep them serving our community,” Foker said in a statement.