Countywide : Tollway Board OKs Environment Report

Although they fully expected their placards and shouts of protest to have no effect, about a dozen South County residents showed up in Santa Ana on Thursday to watch the southern leg of the proposed Foothill Transportation Corridor clear a major environmental hurdle.

In a unanimous vote, the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency board agreed that the toll road’s environmental review complies with state requirements, a necessary step before construction can proceed on the segment of the road between Oso Parkway and Interstate 5.

“Just because they approved it doesn’t mean it’s over,” said Beth Leeds, a Laguna Beach resident and longtime critic of the proposed Orange County toll roads.

The opponents’ battle against the toll road will now move to the courtroom, said Don Kunze, a member of San Clementians Against the Tollway. “They haven’t left us any alternative but to put in an injunction to stop it,” Kunze said.

By law, the public or other agencies have 30 days in which to file a lawsuit challenging the toll road agency’s environmental review of the southern leg.

The 15-mile, $385-million southern segment would provide an alternative to Interstate 5 in the South County and is estimated to cut by half the hourlong, rush-hour commute from San Clemente to the Irvine Spectrum. If approved, the segment is expected to be open by the year 2000.

Thursday’s vote ends the state-mandated environmental review for the proposed leg, toll road agency spokeswoman Lisa Telles said. But the agency needs to begin a federal environmental review process since the road connects with a federal highway and traverses federal property, she added. The federal review will take about two years.

According to the state-mandated environmental review, the southern leg of the Foothill Transportation Corridor would destroy sensitive wildlife habitats. But those impacts are unavoidable if the road is to go through, the review said. The agency says it has committed itself to replacing habitat destroyed by construction of the proposed toll road.

Forty-seven animal species are going to be threatened by the road’s current route, Kunze said. “Better make that 48, since people will be endangered, too,” he added.

The public was not invited to speak to board members Thursday before they voted on the project because the public-hearing period for the environmental review ended in July. Protesters showed up anyway to show their dissent, said Karoline Koester, a San Clemente resident and former City Council member.

“We must constantly remind them that there are other voices out here,” Koester said. “They think it’s over, but it’s not over.”