Gaining on Orange County’s Traffic Problems
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In every survey of Orange County issues and in every poll of Orange County attitudes, transportation and traffic congestion consistently emerge as the No. 1 concern on people’s minds today.
But we don’t need polls and surveys to tell us traffic is a problem. We can see our traffic problems with our own eyes, every day, on our streets, roads and freeways. And we can all feel the frustrations of thinking that no one, anywhere, is doing anything about it.
Well, some positive things are being done to deal with our transportation problems, and we would like to share them with you. In the next few months, a select group of Orange County leaders will be receiving special reports on transportation issues. And you will be receiving information designed to combat the myths and misconceptions surrounding these issues.
The most persistent myth is that our county is a loser in the annual effort to secure state and federal highway funds. It’s not true. Once upon a time, Orange County didn’t receive a fair share of funds, but that has been turned around. A fair share for Orange County highway projects would be $42 million a year. And in the next few years, we’ll be receiving double or triple that amount.
One of the primary roles of the Orange County Transportation Commission is to win increased state and federal funds for our county. Today we are winners in this competitive process. The payoff for this success can be seen in needed freeway projects: widening the San Diego Freeway, rebuilding the aged Santa Ana-Costa Mesa freeways interchange, and later this year, lengthening the Costa Mesa Freeway past the Orange County Fairgrounds.
These freeway improvements are only one part of our energetic effort to meet our transportation problems head on. New transportation facilities are needed. More flexible work hours, more ride-sharing and other transportation management techniques are on tap.
CLARICE A. BLAMER
Chairman
Orange County
Transportation Commission
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