Countywide : Toll Lanes Project Gets New Investor

Construction of toll lanes in the median of the congestion-clogged Riverside Freeway moved closer Friday as the private firm planning the project said a new partner would provide financial and technical support.

Gerald S. Pfeffer, managing partner of Irvine-based California Private Transportation Co., which intends to build and operate the toll lanes, said construction could start in the spring.

He said the new partner is Omaha-based Peter Kiewit Sons Construction Inc., the same firm that is part of a separate venture to complete the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor, a publicly owned tollway scheduled for groundbreaking in 1993. The firm has signed a design-and-construction contract worth $793 million for the San Joaquin Hills road, which is expected to cost a total of $1 billion.

Pfeffer said Kiewit had bought out an interest in the Riverside Freeway project previously held by Texas-based CRSS, a design and engineering firm.

Terms of the purchase weren’t disclosed.

A Kiewit subsidiary that engineers computerized toll collection systems will equip the Riverside Freeway project, which involves installation of two toll lanes in each direction between the Riverside County border and the Costa Mesa Freeway.

Using the automated toll system, a motorist will be able to proceed at freeway speeds while electronic devices communicate with a credit-card size transponder on the vehicle. This allows the toll to be charged to the motorist’s account without stops at toll booths.

Granite Construction Co. and COFIROUTE, a French toll road firm, also are partners in the Riverside Freeway project. Private tollways were common at one time, but this is expected to be the world’s first privately financed toll road built since World War I.

Kiewit’s decision to invest as a partner is expected to enable Pfeffer to obtain the rest of the financing. The project is expected to cost $120 million.