Assembly OKs Bill That Could Thwart Plans for Otay Toll Road

Conjuring visions of Mexican truckers streaming northward onto San Diego freeways, Assemblyman Steve Peace (D-Rancho San Diego) persuaded the Assembly Wednesday to pass a bill that some say is aimed at halting plans for a private toll road near the Otay Mesa border crossing.

Peace’s bill, which was approved 41 to 31 by the lower chamber, does not directly attack the toll road, which a private business consortium wants to build from Brown Field to San Miguel Road in Bonita.

But Peace acknowledged Wednesday that the measure is tantamount to an indirect swipe at what he called a “road to nowhere.” His purpose: to create political uncertainty at a time when backers of the road are trying to secure financing in the bond market.

“Until there’s an agreement on something that makes sense, sure, I’m going to continue this and other (measures) in the (legislative) process to make it difficult for them to finance and go forward with the road,” he said after the vote.

The 9-mile-long, $220-million road is one of four private transportation projects awarded last year under a “privatization” program pushed by then-Gov. George Deukmejian, who wanted business consortiums to run for-profit transportation projects as a way to augment traditional state efforts.

The San Diego bid, submitted by a four-company consortium called California Transportation Ventures, would build the toll road in phases, primarily through large stretches of developable land such as the Baldwin Co.’s Otay Ranch, east of Chula Vista.

State and local planners are counting on the toll road to be the southern link in what they hope will someday be a completed California 125 corridor linking the international border with Interstate 15 north of Poway.

The private toll road would be the southern leg of the corridor up to Bonita. From there, public freeways--built mostly with local sales tax money--would continue to California 94 and then from Interstate 8 to the proposed California 52 near Santee. The portion in between, from 94 to I-8, is now being upgraded.

However, Peace and other South County officials say that isn’t good enough. Without a commitment to extend the corridor even farther--all the way to Poway--the result will be hordes of Mexican truckers streaming from maquiladora plants along the border into their communities and onto already overburdened San Diego freeways, they say.

And the object of their frustration has been the toll road, which they say would be the magnet for traffic and air-quality woes.

“My objections are that it’s a road to nowhere,” Peace said Wednesday. “I don’t see any reason to have Mexican trucks idling in the middle of suburban San Diego, waiting to make their way on (California) 94 and Interstate 8 . . . on their way to L.A.”

Peace told his colleagues that his bill would cut down on potential traffic bottlenecks by mandating “uniform widening” along the entire California 125 corridor--a requirement that would preclude the common practice of building roadways in phases.

The measure would also bar the state from spending any money for any portion of the 125 corridor if a uniform roadway can’t be built. The first casualty could be more than $530,000 already set aside by the state for landscaping and plants around the soon-to-be-completed California 125/I-8 interchange.

A spokesman for the toll road consortium said Wednesday that the Peace bill does not affect their project, which could be completed by 1996, because no public money is to be used. He said the business group will continue to press on with an environmental impact report examining potential routes, which could displace up to 30 homes in Bonita.

But opponents to Peace’s bill, such as Assemblywoman Carol Bentley (R-El Cajon), accused the Democrat during floor debate Wednesday of trying to kill the toll road project.

“If anyone thinks Mr. Peace is trying to build a highway, forget it,” added Assemblyman William P. Baker (R-Danville), who backs private toll roads. “What Mr. Peace wants to do is kill this project . . . .”

And Eric Pahlke, a San Diego Assn. of Governments transportation official, said the bill would also hurt attempts to build the rest of the much-needed corridor with public funds. Since local sales taxes won’t be enough to pay for all of the remaining 9.5 miles of public freeways, Sandag was hoping the state could chip in 30% of the estimated $325-million construction cost.

Now the Peace bill is threatening to throw all of those plans into disarray. “It puts us in Never-Never Land,” Pahlke said.

The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.