Relieving the Orange Crush : Easing Orange County Congestion Would Help Everyone

For an Irvine jogger at dawn, it’s a symphony in red: sunrise over Saddleback Mountain and, beneath the overpass, miles of brake lights snaking up the Santa Ana Freeway at a crawl.

For a Rancho Santa Margarita couple to the south, it means selling a house after one year so they no longer have to face the traffic jams at the El Toro “Y” intersection of the Santa Ana (5) and San Diego (405) freeways.

Yet another Orange County commuter was asked in a survey which freeway he hated most. His answer suggested he’d had plenty time (probably while sitting in traffic) to come up with a colorful response: He hated “that all-time, fave-rave, blue-collar, blood-spilling nightmare, the 5.” His succinct description of Orange County’s traffic: “It’s ugly and getting uglier.”

Traffic has become that kind of nightmare in Orange County as elsewhere, where residents regularly put congestion on the top of their list of complaints. Motorists passing through also face a daily bottleneck to get to and from San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties. No one remedy is a cure-all, but the passage of Proposition 111 in the June 5 primary election is essential for the state to begin to confront transportation and infrastructure problems.

The measure, supported by Gov. George Deukmejian in a welcome departure from his no-tax stance, would boost gasoline taxes by 9 cents over the next five years.

Proposition 111 would pump money into the state’s impoverished transportation and public transit coffers to enable such projects as the $1.9-billion widening of Interstate 5 in Orange County to move forward.

The state Transportation Commission reports that traffic has been growing by 15% to 20% a year in the Los Angeles area. At the same time, spending for state highway construction is less than half what it was nearly a quarter of a century ago. Something has to give. People who drive have another privilege they should use as a remedy--the ballot box.

Because interstates in Orange County serve all of Southern California, Proposition 111 is especially important. Its passage would be the first step in getting the state, and one well-traveled county, on the right track.