Can a 6-Lane Tollway Find Its Way in Laguna Canyon?

Random thoughts left over from Saturday’s Laguna Canyon protest over the proposed San Joaquin Hills tollway:

* A wise old owl in the office said it best last week: This issue is simple only to the die-hard developers who have no qualms about building a highway through a canyon, or to the die-hard environmentalists who think the canyon is sacrosanct. For everyone else, the issue of whether to build or not to build is more vexing.

* Isn’t it government’s obligation, when it can, to make life easier for its citizenry? In this case, wouldn’t that mean relieving the traffic on Interstate 5 by building the tollway? Simple arithmetic compels the conclusion the tollway would relieve traffic.

* On the other hand, why shouldn’t it be government’s obligation to preserve the nature of Laguna Canyon when everyone knows that building the six-lane tollway through it will inalterably change it? What about the permanent loss to people who revel in its quiet beauty? Just because more people drive the freeway than take nature hikes, should the canyon be converted to a speedway? And just because the arithmetic argues for traffic reduction today, what about 10 or 20 years later when the tollway itself is as clogged as Interstate 5?

* Supporters say the tollway will expose more people to the beauties of the canyon. Undoubtedly true, but will it be an aesthetic experience? More likely it would be like walking through the Louvre while listening to rap music on headphones.

* It’s hard not to arch an eyebrow over the protestations of some Laguna residents who decry carving up the canyon. As picturesque as it is, Laguna Beach is nothing if not a monument to the remaking of the landscape, as any glance up at the homes on the hillsides will attest.

* Having said that, the worst argument for building the tollway is the one that says the canyon has already succumbed to development (primarily because of Laguna Canyon Road), so why not throw in an extra six-lane tollway?

* Talking to several people at the rally Saturday, I was struck by the intensity of their dislike for developers. One Mission Viejo woman said: “Greed means everything to them. It’s beyond my comprehension that anyone could be like that.”

* Developers and engineers seem alternately bemused, suspicious and disgusted by the environmentalists, almost as if they can’t believe they’re as committed as they are. Obviously, not everyone understands the mind-set of someone who would fight so fervently to protect natural habitat, but then again, the closest some people ever will get to becoming one with nature is to walk into a cobweb.

* If they finally build the tollway, why not give it a name more in keeping with the legacy it will leave. Something like Memory Lane?

* Who’s to blame for leaving us in a situation where the relief to traffic congestion is slicing up Laguna Canyon?

* When was the last time you hiked through a park or canyon country that wasn’t despoiled by traffic or noise?

* Tollway opponents are basing part of their argument on a contention that the project will cost $1 billion, not the $778 million its supporters cite. While not forsaking the purely environmental argument, one Laguna Greenbelt Inc. board member said: “Looking at the funding is a relatively new process for us. We realize we live in Orange County and we recognize that conservative Orange County citizens don’t (always) respond to a chunk of land like the Laguna Greenbelt like we do, but they do respond when they feel they’re being cheated and their wallets are being cheated.”

* I can’t help but wonder whether we’d be having this discussion if the money in Orange County somehow were in the hands of the environmentalists instead of the developers. If it were, one assumes that the first time someone mentioned building the highway through the canyon, one of the supervisors would have said: “Are you nuts? Build a highway through Laguna Canyon?”

* Last Saturday, I kept imagining every citizen in Orange County being required to stand in Laguna Canyon and look out toward where the six-lane would be built and then being asked if they wanted it built or not. If so, I doubt they’d ever turn a spade of dirt.

* To answer my own question, government should exist to help people. Building the interstate highway through the Rockies, for example, helped people avoid treacherous mountain travel. There’s no such imperative to the tollway through Laguna Canyon. A friend of mine came up with the line I wish I’d thought of first: “Too many lanes; not enough canyon.”