Countywide : Usage, Revenues to Be Focus of Toll Road Study

Orange County transportation commissioners, already enthusiastic about the possibility of building a six-mile, $1-billion extension of the Orange Freeway as a privately operated tollway, decided Monday to get a reality check.

The panel voted 7-0 to hire a consulting firm to project future traffic flow and toll revenue on the proposed route, which would extend the existing freeway along the Santa Ana River from the intersection of the Santa Ana and Garden Grove freeways in Orange to the San Diego Freeway in Fountain Valley.

Wilbur Smith Associates will conduct the study over six months, beginning Oct. 1, at a cost of $50,000, county transportation officials said. The same firm conducted a similar study for the three publicly owned and operated tollways planned for the eastern and southern county. .

The Orange Freeway extension has become a hot topic among transportation planners, now that the state has authorized up to four private tollways, with routes to be selected after an intensive review by Caltrans and a technical advisory panel.

Soquel and Tonner Canyons north of Brea and Yorba Linda are also under consideration as sites for private toll roads.