LAGUNA BEACH : City to Bus Residents to Toll Road Hearing

The city, which hopes to bolster opposition to a planned toll road that would cut across Laguna Canyon, has approved a rally in March and will pay $500 to bus residents to a Feb. 14 public hearing on the increasingly controversial proposal.

The City Council voted Tuesday to rent a bus to take residents to the Transportation Corridor Agency board meeting. The agency seeks to build the 17-mile San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor, which would stretch from Newport Beach to San Juan Capistrano.

The Valentine’s Day hearing is one of two that will give the public a chance to comment on environmental impact reports for the road. Once comment is gathered, the transportation agency board will meet March 14 to decide whether to certify the reports.

Two days after the certification hearing, a rally will be held in the Sycamore Hills area of the canyon, near Laguna Canyon and El Toro roads. The event, which will begin at 11 a.m., will take the place of a canyon walk proposed earlier by local activists.

Beth Leeds, an organizer of the rally, said opposition to the corridor is growing as the hearings approach. The rally will give residents a chance to closely view the proposed toll road site, she said.

“Basically, it’s an opportunity to be on the land firsthand and see exactly what kind of damage there might be if the project went through,” Leeds said.

Lisa Telles, a spokeswoman for the transportation agency, declined to comment Friday about the city’s actions. She said, however, that responses to all comments already submitted on the toll road’s environmental reports will be available to the public the first week of February.

The Feb. 14 hearing will be held at 10 a.m. in the council chambers at Santa Ana City Hall, 20 Civic Center Plaza. A second public hearing will be held Feb. 28 at 9:30 a.m.