COUNTYWIDE : Private Toll Roads Get Boost at Meeting

In a bid to obtain money for Orange County projects, state and local transportation officials gathered Thursday in Brea to tell potential investors and builders from as far away as New York, France and Japan about opportunities to build private toll roads for profit.

It was the first such meeting in the state where companies could ask questions about the new state toll road program, as well as examine which Orange County projects may be suitable for private investment.

The symposium, held at Brea City Hall, attracted more than 200 people--mostly representatives of engineering firms rather than investment bankers.

The Legislature recently passed a bill permitting four private tollway projects in the state, at least one of which must be built in Southern California. Eager to position Orange County to get the first one, the Orange County Transportation Commission sponsored Thursday’s meeting and has put up $300,000 for preliminary environmental and engineering studies.

Proposed private tollways include an 8 1/2-mile, $1.3-billion extension of the Orange Freeway from the Garden Grove Freeway to the San Diego Freeway; a Soquel Canyon route between Diamond Bar in Los Angeles County and Brea, and a Tonner Canyon route between California 71 in Riverside County and Brea.

A fourth proposal is for a Santa Rosa Expressway between Interstate 15, near Rancho California in Riverside County, and the planned Foothill public toll road near San Clemente. The Foothill corridor is one of three publicly owned and operated toll roads already planned for Orange County.

Carl Williams, the Caltrans official in charge of the statewide site search, told symposium participants that the real test “is going to come in the next six months when we ask you to submit projects that make good business sense.”

A panel of toll road advocates ranging from Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) to Riverside County developer Dean K. Allen spoke, with several of them pitching individual projects. Later, members of the audience were able to obtain maps showing proposed projects and pick up other information.

Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas, a Los Angeles-based engineering firm interested in the Orange Freeway extension as well as other projects, is one of several consortiums that have been forming to bid on California toll road projects. PBQ&D;’s partners include Trans Route, a French firm, and Prudential-Bache Securities.

“I’m sure that we could build and operate a toll road profitably in Orange County,” said PBQ&D;’s Michael Schneider, who attended the session. “What I’m not sure of is the willingness of the financial markets to gamble on it.”