Engineers Plan to Roll Fast on Measure M List

It’s a portrait in commuter frustration. John Randell likes to avoid the freeway when he drives from his Mission Viejo home to work in Irvine, so he spins up Alton Parkway. But it’s no quick fix.

Although the broad thoroughfare is hardly bumper to bumper, its traffic signals are so poorly synchronized that Randell said he typically grinds to a halt at 20 or more red lights over just 10 miles. He knows. He’s counted them. The result is a trip that sometimes takes an agonizing 30 minutes.

But now there’s relief in sight. With voter approval last week of Measure M, the half-cent sales tax increase, there will soon be a flood of dollars to quell many of the most exasperating transportation dilemmas in Orange County, among them the synchronizing problem on Alton Parkway.

Keep an eye out. It’ll be coming soon to a street corner near you. Up and down Orange County, from Stanton to San Clemente, residents should begin noticing changes on the highway in the months to come, courtesy of Measure M.

A plethora of orange traffic cones will signal the start. More work crews than ever before will begin ladling out asphalt along roads and freeways. New trains gorged with commuters headed for Los Angeles or arriving from Riverside are eventually expected to click down the tracks. If all goes according to plan, the end result will be swifter trips for everyone, whether they’re bound for work or the local grocery store.

The $3.1-billion infusion of cash expected from Measure M should trickle down in varied ways that will be noticeable to anyone who ventures out on the county’s traffic-choked roads and highways. Improvements will range from subtle to substantial, transportation authorities say.

Potholes will be repaired a bit more promptly. Road-widening projects that would have gone begging for decades will become a reality far sooner. Intersections that once lacked enough left-turn lanes or a simple right-hand turn pocket will begin to sprout such improvements.

Car-pool lanes will be added in each direction on the Riverside and Orange freeways. Efforts to transform the Santa Ana Freeway from a antiquated, car-clogged interstate into a 12-lane superhighway will be speeded up dramatically, with the entire project now expected to be completed by the end of the decade instead of 2010 or later.

An ambitious new monorail or trolley system could emerge in Central County, thanks in large part to money from Measure M.

“It will touch everyone in Orange County,” said Stanley T. Oftelie, executive director of the Orange County Transportation Commission (OCTC). “We’re going to be rebuilding our transportation system. We’re going to use this money to make up for past years of neglect and then keep up and get ahead of the curve.”

Like most things in life, all the work can hardly happen fast enough. Money from Measure M will trickle in over 20 years, meaning that many of the biggest projects will have to be spaced carefully to avoid exhausting the cash flow.

Even so, county transportation officials are trying to get a head start on the effort, boldly pledging to push ahead immediately, although the half-cent tax will not start kicking in at county cash registers until April.

At a special meeting of OCTC on Friday, the agency tentatively agreed to proceed with several key projects that will cost more than $82 million. Authorities expect to borrow against the anticipated taxes so the time schedule for high-priority projects can be moved up.

Caltrans, meanwhile, is already gearing up for the increased workload by adding people to the Orange County district staff.

Among the first construction projects financed by Measure M will be the $40-million Orange Freeway car-pool lanes. Work is expected to begin in February, if all goes well.

Officials hope within 18 months also to begin work on the infamous El Toro “Y,” the jammed confluence of the Santa Ana and San Diego freeways. Measure M will provide $55 million for that job, which will add lanes to the Y.

In addition, authorities envision ordering the first phalanx of commute trains that are expected to improve rail service between Orange County and Los Angeles, ultimately running one train every 20 minutes during peak hours. The trains and locomotives take about 18 months to build, so officials do not anticipate the new service to begin rolling until late 1992.

Other projects will take a bit longer to hit the ground. A car-pool lane in each direction along Interstate 5 from San Clemente to the El Toro Y will be built with $80 million in Measure M money, with work probably beginning later this decade.

Car-pool lanes will also be added to the Riverside Freeway, likewise later in the 1990s.

While such high-profile freeway projects will surely command the public spotlight, Measure M will also bolster work on scores of streets throughout the county. Among the most ambitious projects are the 21 “super-streets” that will be crafted with $120 million from the proposition. Under the program, the designated streets will get face lifts that include synchronized signals, turn pockets and other improvements to speed traffic.

Beach Boulevard will be the first, with work expected to start in February. Katella Avenue, Moulton Parkway and others will follow by mid-decade, getting face lifts that will include better signal synchronization, more turn pockets and other improvements.

Many people can hardly wait. Donna Stubbs, the chief public relations officer for the county’s tollways agencies, struggles each day in the traffic up Moulton Parkway from her South County home to work in Costa Mesa. She wishes Moulton Parkway could be improved tomorrow.

“In the short stretch between El Toro Road and Lake Forest Drive I’ll spend 10 to 20 minutes in traffic every day,” Stubbs said. “Going home is just as bad. Moulton is getting worse every day. But I think it’ll make a big difference as a super street.”

Another $50 million of the Measure M money will help coordinate traffic signals around the county, and $70 million will go to improve some of the most traffic-clogged county intersections.

The biggest chunk of street money, $450 million, will go to local cities for road maintenance and improvements. Cities have already drawn up a list of more than 300 candidate street projects. The Measure M money will go not only to repair potholes but also to widen some streets, provide more turn lanes on others and generally ensure that the road network is running up to speed.

“Overall, I think this will result in people saving a lot of time on the road, particularly during the peak driving hours,” said William Morris, public services director in Costa Mesa. “We’ll be proactive and cure problems before they occur, instead of being reactive, only making improvements as traffic congestion builds up.”

Morris envisions money improving intersections such as Sunflower Avenue at Fairview Road and the traffic-choked confluence of MacArthur and Harbor boulevards.

Anaheim officials have been eyeballing improvements to 28 congested intersections. Without Measure M, there was money to improve just six of them in the next five years, said John Lower, the city’s principal traffic engineer.

With Measure M, the city expects to tackle 16 of the choke points by mid-decade, including the intersections of Tustin and La Palma avenues and Katella Avenue and Haster Street.

In San Juan Capistrano, the top-priority projects are building an extension of Stonehill Drive over a creek bed to provide an alternative to heavily congested Del Obispo Street, and the widening of the La Novia Avenue bridge, La Novia itself, and Rancho Viejo and Junipero Serra roads.

But even with Measure M, there’s still not enough money to tackle all of the region’s transportation difficulties, experts caution. The flood of money during the next 20 years will simply help make a bad situation a bit better, they say.

“I think it would have been a disaster had it not been approved,” said John R. M. Wilson, a history professor at Southern California College in Costa Mesa who rides his bicycle to work to avoid traffic congestion. “It had to be done if this place wasn’t going to freeze up completely.”

Staff writer Jeffrey A. Perlman contributed to this story.

FROM POTHOLES TO OVERPASSES: Where Measure M money goes

In the months to come, residents throughout Orange County will begin to see the fruits of Measure M, the half-cent sales tax earmarked for transportation projects.

Approved by voters Tuesday, the tax will raise $3 billion during the next two decades for transportation projects ranging from fixing potholes to building freeways.

Spending plans include: freeway improvements, mass-transit projects, “super streets” and other local road improvements.

As part of the plan, 21 major thoroughfares would be designated super streets, with better signal timing, turn pockets with two left-turn lanes, more lanes and other improvements.

Hundreds of local roads will be fixed as a result of Measure M, but city councils will decide which roads. Senior citizens and handicapped passengers will also pay lower bus fares throughout the county.

Here is a look at five regions of the county and some of the Measure M transportation plans.

1. NORTH

Freeways: Santa Ana Freeway widened to 12 lanes to the county line, with completion expected in 2000. Car-pool lanes to be built on the Artesia/Riverside and Orange freeways, with the latter under construction next year and work beginning on the former later this decade.

Major streets: Beach Boulevard, Imperial Highway, Harbor Boulevard, Tustin Avenue/Rose Drive, Katella Avenue, Orangethorpe Avenue and State College Boulevard to be transformed into super streets with various improvements. Katella Avenue work expected first, with others to follow.

Roads: Brookhurst and Lincoln expected to be widened in Anaheim. Placentia Avenue targeted for repair. A new section added to Bastanchury Road in Yorba Linda.

Transit: Central Orange County monorail expected to run through Anaheim and Fullerton. More Amtrak-operated commute trains to run through this area to Los Angeles by 1993. New train station in Buena Park expected. Possible link with proposed Riverside commute train in Anaheim.

2. NORTHWEST

Freeways: Car-pool lanes, two in each direction, to be built on Riverside Freeway. Work not expected to begin until mid-1990s.

Major streets: Beach Boulevard, Katella Avenue, Pacific Coast Highway, Warner Avenue, Valley View Street, Adams Avenue and Bolsa Avenue to be transformed into super streets.

Roads: Various cities to use money to repair and maintain roads, among them Lincoln Avenue and Golden West Street.

Transit: New light-rail link to Los Angeles International Airport, following the old Red Car trolley route. Also possible link in Huntington Beach to a proposed Central County monorail.

3. CENTRAL

Freeways: This area is prime beneficiary of freeway money. Will help speed completion of Santa Ana Freeway widening throughout Central County. Will add three lanes in each direction. Work will now be completed in 10 years instead of 20. Intersection of Santa Ana, Orange and Garden Grove freeways to be rebuilt in mid-decade. Costa Mesa Freeway to get a new lane in each direction toward end of decade.

Major streets: Harbor Boulevard, Beach Boulevard, Katella Avenue and Warner Avenue to become super streets.

Roads: El Camino Real in Tustin expected to be widened. Bristol and 17th streets and McFadden Avenue in Santa Ana to be widened. New pavement to be laid on various streets in Westminster.

Transit: Several mass-transit systems will connect here. A monorail or other “guideway” system would link Santa Ana and Orange with adjacent cities. A new light-rail line running along old Red Car trolley line to LAX would end in Santa Ana. More Amtrak-operated commute trains will run through this area to Los Angeles by 1993. New train station expected to be built in Tustin; abandoned station in Orange to be refurbished. New commute-rail link to Riverside possibly later in decade.

4. COSTA MESA/NEWPORT/IRVINE

Freeways: Will benefit from reconstruction of the El Toro Y, which acts as a logjam for motorists trying to travel on the San Diego Freeway. Elevated car-pool lanes planned to sweep over and avoid interchange traffic at junction of the San Diego and Costa Mesa freeways.

Major streets: Harbor Boulevard, Jamboree Road, Laguna Canyon Road, Newport Boulevard, MacArthur Boulevard, Coast Highway, Adams Avenue and Irvine Boulevard to become super streets during next decade.

Roads: Newport Boulevard targeted for widening, as are Irvine Center Drive, Jeffrey Road and Culver Drive in Irvine and Victoria and 19th streets in Costa Mesa. Money also probably to be spent for signal synchronization.

Transit: Costa Mesa and Irvine may be linked with Central County monorail line. Irvine also a destination point for Riverside commute-rail line. More Amtrak-operated commute trains to run through this area to Los Angeles by 1993.

5. SADDLEBACK/SOUTH BEACH

Freeways: El Toro Y interchange to be widened and new ramps built. Construction starting within 18 months. One new car-pool lane in each direction on Interstate 5 from the Y to San Clemente.

Major streets: Irvine Center Drive/Moulton Parkway/Street of the Golden Lantern to become a super street, along with Laguna Canyon Road, El Toro Road, Crown Valley Parkway and Coast Highway. Moulton probably completed by mid-decade, others by the year 2000.

Roads: Traffic signals on Marguerite Parkway and La Paz Road expected to be better synchronized. San Clemente to target widening of El Camino Real. San Juan Capistrano expected to widen Rancho Viejo Road.

Transit: More Amtrak-operated commute trains to Los Angeles, with new stations likely in Mission Viejo and Laguna Niguel.

Commuter Rail Lines

A. This abandoned railway right of way to be purchased as early as February for new public commuter-rail sevice between Orange County and Los Angeles’ Blue Line.

B. New locomotives and rail cars for more daily commuter trains to Los Angeles may be purchased in about 18 months. Aquisitions hinge on pending public purchase of Santa Fe rail line.