SAN DIEGO -- The state of California, an environmental coalition and an American Indian rights group filed separate suits in San Diego County Superior Court to stop an Orange County agency from building a planned toll road through state parkland in San Diego County's northwest corner.

"By choosing to build a six-lane highway through San Onofre State Beach, local public officials missed an opportunity to meet the transportation needs of this growing region without sacrificing public parklands that have been protected for future generations," state Attorney General Bill Lockyer said in a statement Thursday in Sacramento. "I am filing this lawsuit because these local officials chose to build the road without evaluating its toll on a state treasure."

The Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency, an organization created to plan, build and operate toll roads in Orange County, approved its $17 million environmental study and the road's route last month, setting in motion this month's flurry of legal action. The agency is governed by a 17-member board of elected Orange County officials

Agency officials have said the road through San Onofre State Beach and San Mateo State Campground would provide Orange, Riverside and San Bernadino county commuters an inland route to the coast. Designed to siphon north-south traffic off of Interstate 5, the 16.9-mile road is the final link in a 67-mile web of toll roads through Orange County.

Two other organizations -- the Native American Heritage Commission and a coalition of environmental groups and state parkland advocates that include the Surfrider Foundation, the California State Parks Foundation and the Sierra Club -- also filed suits to block the road. Both groups say that road planners failed to adequately address environmental impacts of the road.

Agency board President Ken Ryan characterized the lawsuits Thursday as "scare tactics" from longtime opponents of state Route 241, also known as the "Foothill-South."

"This is simply another delay tactic that avoids dealing with the number one issue facing Southern California today -- traffic congestion," Ryan said. "This is from the same groups represented by the same lawyers who continue to oppose any transportation project designed to improve mobility."

Ryan, one of 17 elected officials on the board, said agency attorneys will defend the suits, and he called Lockyer's suit "a waste of taxpayer money."

Lockyer said in his statement that he filed the lawsuit on behalf of the people of California and the state Parks and Recreation Commission. The complaint alleges the agency violated California environmental laws when it did not completely assess the road's effects on visitors to the state campground and beach and area wildlife. Further, the agency did not completely identify plans for offsetting environmental damage, and did not properly study alternatives less damaging to the environment, the suit said.

The suit filed by the coalition of environmental groups made similar accusations.

"The (agency) has grossly underestimated the impacts that this toll road would have on San Onofre State Beach," said William White of Shute, Mihaly and Weinberger LLP, the lead attorney for the coalition. "It undermined the public process by failing to explore alternatives that would avoid the State Beach entirely and would provide traffic benefits equal or greater than the toll road."

The Native American Heritage Commission lawsuit alleges that the road would damage American Indian historical and ceremonial sites located on public property. The complaint states that the toll road would pass within a few feet of a cemetery still used by local American Indians near the ancient indigenous village of Panhe, recognized as one of the major villages of the Juaneno/Acjachemen people.

The existing portion of state Route 241 begins at state Route 91 and ends in Rancho Santa Margarita. The section targeted by three suits would continue from Rancho Santa Margarita and connect with Interstate 5 just south of San Clemente. The $875 million road -- 25 years in the planning -- would enter San Diego County 4 miles northeast of San Clemente and hug the northern border of San Mateo State Campground, coming within 400 feet of the closest campsite.

The agency and most directors -- elected Orange County officials -- have said that state Route 241 is needed to relieve traffic congestion on I-5 through Orange County.

Opponents agree that a solution to Orange County's traffic congestion is needed, but have said that other options provide better traffic relief while preserving the campground and state beach.

Contact staff writer Philip K. Ireland at (760) 901-4043 or pireland@nctimes.com.