SAN CLEMENTE : Tollway Alignment Hearing Scheduled

A public hearing on proposed alignments for the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor is scheduled for the City Council meeting Wednesday.

At the request of several citizens, the City Council recently voted 5 to 0 to schedule the hearing to precede a March 14 public hearing by directors of the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency.

The city’s hearing is aimed to get community input on the San Joaquin Hills corridor. Although the corridor does not pass through San Clemente, the city has a representative vote on the board through Mayor Scott Diehl.

“It’s our responsibility as elected officials to hear public input because I am concerned about people being muffled on this issue,” said Councilman Thomas Lorch. “Our vote will put something in someone else’s back yard, and we have to hear from these cities to properly represent them.”

The March 14 hearing by Transportation Corridor Agency directors will include discussion of environmental documentation that state law requires for the tollway. That hearing begins at 10 a.m. in the Santa Ana City Council chambers.

Discussion of the Foothill corridor is also expected at Wednesday’s hearing, because that tollway route passes through the eastern portion of the city and eventually will link to Interstate 5 in either the south end of San Clemente or the north end of Camp Pendleton.