The monthly meeting of the Metro Board of Directors is underway in downtown Los Angeles.

But it appears that there won’t be debate today on Item 55, a recommendation by Metro staff to launch a new round of studies on how to improve traffic in the area surrounding the 710 gap between Alhambra and Pasadena.

A motion by Board of Director member John Fasana, and approved unanimously by the other Directors, delayed hearing of the item until next month’s meeting. That also allows the recommendation to be heard at Board of Director committees.

Obviously, anything having to do with the 710 gap is controversial; it has been for decades. In this case, Board of Director members acknowledged that stakeholders on all sides of the issue have expressed concerns over the past several days about the recommendation and it was decided to delay making a decision for that reason.