Tollway Board OKs $2.21 Million in Design Changes

Laguna Beach officials opposed to the San Joaquin Hills toll road welcomed plans Thursday to camouflage the highway near rustic Laguna Canyon. But they still believe the road design is, well, ugly.

“It’s progress, but it’s not enough,” Laguna Beach Councilwoman Kathleen Blackburn said after Thursday’s 9-1 vote for $2.21 million in design changes by the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency’s board of directors. “We would have preferred a delay, so that there would be time for the (agency) to get together with the city and negotiate a better plan.”

Construction is due to begin by month’s end on the San Joaquin Hills toll road, which will extend the Corona del Mar Freeway from MacArthur Boulevard near John Wayne Airport to Interstate 5 near San Juan Capistrano.

For years, motorists traveling on Laguna Canyon Road have passed a sign declaring the city’s opposition to the tollway. The sign also states that the tollway’s span across the canyon will be 40 feet high and 800 feet long. Those measurements are not expected to change much, although there are proposals to raise the level of Laguna Canyon Road 10 feet or more, which would make the tollway appear less imposing.

The changes adopted during Thursday’s tollway board meeting include berms that will hide a major portion of the road from view where it passes just west of Laguna Canyon. The bridges spanning the canyon also will be reduced from three to one, presenting a more visibly pleasing, thinner profile, officials said.

But Laguna Beach officials preferred an $8-million to $10-million plan that would have substituted regular bridge supports with arches and other amenities that would have improved pedestrian access and animal migration pathways through a wilderness park that surrounds the road in the canyon.

Blackburn said it is unclear how city officials will respond to Thursday’s vote. The city has pledged not to sue to block the tollway; in exchange it is getting millions of dollars from the county to purchase adjacent Laguna Laurel parkland.

In a letter to tollway officials, the City Council said it would urge other toll road opponents to settle their lawsuits.

Robert Mosier, president of the Laguna Beach Taxpayers Assn. and a strong proponent of the tollway, urged the tollway agency board Thursday not to make any changes that would reduce the traffic flow.

But Mosier also suggested that electronic message signs be installed to warn toll road users when there are long delays on Laguna Canyon Road, especially during weekends, when beach-goers could switch to Newport Beach or other coastal destinations. Tollway officials said they would consider such signs.