Toll road vote delayed at 11th hour

By: PHILIP K. IRELAND - Staff Writer | Thursday, January 19, 2006 11:29 PM PST ∞

MISSION VIEJO ---- Responding to a request by two state agencies, the Orange County Transportation Authority, which is planning a toll road through San Onofre State Beach, agreed Thursday to postpone a final vote on the controversial project for 30 days.

"We just believe that there are parties involved in this that deserve to be heard," said Sandy Cooney, a spokesman for the California Resources Agency, one of the agencies that requested a delay through a letter delivered Wednesday. "We've asked for an extension because we believe additional conversation is necessary on other alternatives, and we want to make sure all concerns raised by state parks and other stakeholders are addressed."

Proponents of State Route 241 say the road is needed to relieve traffic congestion on Interstate 5 through Orange County. Some opponents say the road will actually increase San Diego County traffic on Interstate 5 south of San Clemente, where the road will join the freeway.

In response to the letter from the two state agencies, the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency, that had convened Thursday to vote on the project, instead went into a closed session.

Board President Ken Ryan said that the closed session dealt with threats of litigation from environmental groups and other organizations opposed to the alignment.

Sunne Wright McPeak, secretary of the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, also signed the letter. The agency oversees several departments, including the California Department of Transportation. Ryan said after Thursday's meeting that McPeak called him Wednesday night to ask his help in getting the postponement.

After several board members criticized the state's request, the board voted for the 30-day extension, with three dissenting votes.

Several of the 17 Orange County politicians who sit on the transportation corridor agency board expressed outrage that the state had intervened just hours before the vote was to take place Thursday morning.

"I am not thrilled to be required in the 11th hour and the 59th minute" to delay the vote, said Tustin Councilman Jerry Amante.

Lake Forest Councilman Peter Herzog said that the state had been a part of the process since 1981.

"None of this has been secretive in any way, shape or form," Herzog said, calling the alignment through San Onofre State Beach "the most analyzed road that will ever be built."

The delay may be only a short reprieve for toll road opponents who say the route through a state beach and park in San Diego's northeastern corner will ruin the wilderness experience, pollute San Mateo Creek and threaten Trestles, one of California's premier surfing spots.

Proponents say the road is a vital transportation link through Orange County.

The proposed $875 million route is the final segment of State Route 241, and the final leg of a 67-mile web of toll roads through Orange County designed to relieve traffic congestion on I-5. Drivers pay tolls to travel the roads, which are in turn used to repay bonds issued to pay for the road's construction.

Opponents include the State Parks and Recreation Department, Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation, the Audubon Society, the Endangered Habitats League, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Those groups have joined to oppose the selection of the preferred route through San Onofre State Beach. Through the California State Parks Foundation, they have funded studies challenging some of the findings used by planners to select the state beach route and rule out other options.

"It is our feeling at the foundation that the (agency) has not adequately looked at the I-5 alternatives," said spokeswoman Elizabeth Goldstein. "Our goal is to present alternatives that could prevent the destruction of the park and solve the transportation issues confronting Orange County and northeastern San Diego County now and in the future."

Goldstein said she hopes the board will take the 30-day delay to review and assess those studies.

The corridor agency, created to plan and build Orange County toll roads, will reconvene Feb. 23 at its Irvine office. At that time, the board is expected to approve the final environmental impact report ---- a study of the project's effects on cultural sites, water, noise, and other environmental concerns ---- and the road's 16.9-mile route from Rancho Santa Margarita to I-5 just south of San Clemente.

The route was originally proposed in 1981 and has been part of the Orange County transportation plan since then.

Contact staff writer Philip K. Ireland at (760) 901-4043 or pireland@nctimes.com. To comment, go to nctimes.com.

SR 241 regional map

www.thetollroads.com/home/maps.htm

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