The Right Path on Freeways

Considering residents’ attitudes on transportation, two actions taken last week to improve Orange County’s freeways should please them.

Although there is room for concern over how each will be implemented, the decisions to use the new traffic lanes created on the Costa Mesa (Route 55) Freeway as commuter lanes and the creation of a joint-powers authority to oversee the development of the proposed Foothill and Eastern freeways are actions that needed to be taken. And, according to opinions gathered in the Orange County Annual Survey released last month, they were actions the public wants.

The survey reported a “dramatic decline” in freeway satisfaction, with only about 18% of the county’s residents now satisfied with freeway conditions as they are, a growing desire for more freeways and strong support for new freeway lanes for buses and car pools, greater employer incentives for car pooling and assessing developer fees to help pay new freeway costs.

That is precisely what local government gave them last week.

The Orange County Transportation Commission last Monday approved the county’s first experiment with commuter lanes, voting a 90-day trial run starting in late November on the Costa Mesa Freeway. New lanes that will later be added on the San Diego (405) Freeway will also be set aside for buses and car pools.

What is cause for concern is the arbitrary 90-day trial period. Will that be enough time to develop the car pools and bus service needed to make the “experiment” a success? Where’s the incentive for corporations to form van pools and for motorists to join car pools if they think the experiment might end in 90 days? And what exactly will determine what “success” is? The lanes must be given a fair chance to work.

On Wednesday, the approval of the developer-fee concept by the Irvine City Council, if it survives a legal challenge from some Irvine residents, will pave the way for creating the Foothill/Eastern Corridor Joint Powers Authority that will oversee the development of 35 miles of freeway through the county’s southeast foothills. Another similar authority will be formed to help develop the San Joaquin Hills freeway that will run 14 miles between Corona del Mar and the San Diego Freeway near Avery Parkway in the San Juan Capistrano area.

There is no question that new or expanded freeways are needed in Orange County, not only to handle continuing growth but also to ease the present traffic crunch. The problem now is how to best design and finance those new lanes.

The regional approach that includes all affected communities is a welcome one. Given the shortage of federal and state funds, the use of developer fees on new freeway construction is in keeping with the growing public-private financing approach. The local fees, expected to raise about half the costs of building the three freeways, will also help attract more matching state and federal funds.

It is vital, however, that the fees not be allowed to make affordable housing even more difficult to obtain. That can be avoided by making sure that affordable housing is exempt from the developer-fee program.