The Final Toll? : Hearing Today Could Mark Last Challenge to Road in Canyon

After years of legal wrangling in state and federal courts, it appeared in June that construction would go ahead on the final section of the San Joaquin Hills tollway when a federal judge removed the last legal barrier to the project.

Bulldozers, poised along the construction route, immediately began grading the 4.7-mile section that cuts through environmentally sensitive Laguna Canyon.

But one day later, on June 15, attorneys for a coalition of environmental groups mustered a last-minute challenge and persuaded the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to halt the bulldozers.

The court banned construction on the disputed six-lane stretch between Newport Coast Drive and El Toro Road so opponents could prepare a lawsuit contending that a key federal agency approved the toll road illegally.

Today, a three-judge panel in Pasadena will hear arguments in that last-ditch legal challenge.

Lawyers for a coalition of environmental groups, led by Laguna Greenbelt Inc., will ask for a continued ban on construction in the picturesque canyon. They also want the court to order the Federal Highway Administration to do a further environmental study, which would consider alternatives to the grading and road construction planned in the surrounding greenbelt.

Meanwhile, work has continued since September, 1993, on other sections of the 17-mile tollway route, which runs from San Juan Capistrano to Newport Beach and is trumpeted as a partial solution to South County’s grinding traffic congestion.

Lisa Telles, spokeswoman for the San Joaquin tollway agency, said the link south of the disputed stretch--between Moulton Parkway and Laguna Canyon Road--is still scheduled to open to motorists by spring, 1996. Despite several lawsuits filed against the tollway and construction delays caused by some of the legal challenges, Telles said, officials still plan to complete the thoroughfare on schedule by 1997.

For the most part though, little work has been done on the disputed stretch between Newport Coast Drive and El Toro Road--the subject of Tuesday’s hearing--since Sept. 7, 1993. That was the day U.S. District Judge Linda H. McLaughlin issued a preliminary injunction against construction in the canyon.

McLaughlin also was the judge who lifted the injunction June 14, prompting the one-day flurry of grading by transportation agency bulldozers. The appeals court banned further work on the contested link the following day.

The numerous courtroom battles have stirred bitter feelings in both camps. Environmental groups have mounted legal challenges on no less than 97 issues since April, 1991.

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Mike Stockstill, who resigned as tollway agency spokesman this month, has complained that the environmentalists’ strategy is to harass the road builders into exhaustion, chasing them from the canyon by filing repeated lawsuits and driving up the cost of the project. The agency has won every one of the lawsuits and prevailed on each of the issues, he said.

“Delay has been their No. 1 tactic. This has all been extraordinarily unnecessary,” he said in an earlier interview.

Not so, said Joel R. Reynolds, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council in Los Angeles and attorney for Laguna Greenbelt.

“There is a very fundamental issue at stake here: Did the Federal Highway Administration ever really look at this project?” said Reynolds. “Our conclusion is that it didn’t. They didn’t take the time required by federal law to analyze this project. They rubber-stamped it.

“We’re not trying to make the project more expensive. All we’re trying to do is enforce federal laws designed to protect the environment,” he added.

Regardless, Telles said construction delays caused by the numerous lawsuits have added $8.9 million to the original $793 million cost of the project. In addition, the tollway agency has paid more than $2.9 million in legal fees to defend itself in court.

Tuesday’s hearing, where both sides will present 20 minutes of oral arguments, will not determine whether the 4.7-mile link between Newport Coast Drive and El Toro Road should be constructed; at least, not for now.

Rather, the key issue raised by Reynolds is whether the Federal Highway Administration did an adequate study of the project and followed federal environmental laws before approving the toll road in July, 1992.

Opponents charged the federal agency never considered whether alternatives, like bridges or tunnels through Laguna Canyon, could mitigate potential damage there.

“We can also point to the (road’s) alignment and say that’s the wrong place for this road to go and move the alignment outside of the greenbelt,” Reynolds said. “There are several examples we could offer. But what it boils down to is the (federal agency’s) failure to consider all of these alternatives. That’s the issue for now.”

A ruling from the appeals court is expected later this year. Meanwhile, the injunction issued in June by the court is expected to remain in place.

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If the court agrees with the environmentalists that the federal agency improperly approved the project, the agency will be required to begin a new environmental impact study, extending the construction delay even longer, perhaps several months, and increasing the cost of the project by millions.

Rob Thornton, attorney for the tollway agency, said about $5 million in revenue will be lost each month if the tollway is not completed on schedule. Although he stopped short of calling the lawsuit frivolous, Thornton said the environmentalists’ argument that the federal agency acted illegally is without merit.

He noted that Reynolds and the Laguna Greenbelt group agreed in June to drop a lawsuit against the California Coastal Commission and the tollway agency, wherein they challenged the commission’s approval of a permit for construction of the toll road.

“The record doesn’t support them. The entire environmental process was about 20 years long. The Federal Highway Administration delayed approval of the final environmental report for 16 months, while they consulted with other federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and the Fish & Wildlife Service,” said Thornton.

He said that about 25 local, state and federal agencies gave the tollway their blessing.

“Does this mean that they too rubber-stamped the project? That argument is just not credible,” Thornton said.

Neither side would predict what will happen if the appeals court agrees with the environmentalists that the federal agency acted illegally.

Tollway agency spokeswoman Telles said “the only losers would be people who want to use the (thoroughfare) who are presently struggling in congested freeways.”

Although Reynolds too declined to predict the outcome in Circuit Court, he said environmentalists “will be compelled to pursue other legal options” if the ruling goes against them.

Charting Toll Road’s Progress No portion of he 17-mile San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor is 100% completed, but with the exception of three areas awaiting legal decisions, construction is underway all along the route. At 10 major intersections along the corridor, the estimated amount of construction completed ranges from none to 60% University Dr. / MacArthur Blvd.: 10% Ford Road realignment: 35% Sand Canyon Ave.: 0% Laguna Canyon Rd.: 0% Alicia Pkwy: 50% El Toro Rd.: 0% Crown Valley Pkwy. / Cabot Rd.: 40% Moulton Pkwy: 45% Greenfield: 60% Connection to Santa Ana Fwy.: 10% *Building Blocks Building the tollway involves more than grading and paving. Here are the major steps involved. Grading and moving dirt. Building bridges Relocating utility lines Detouring traffic Constructing retaining and sound walls Preparing storm drains Paving roadway Setting up highway guardrails, lighting, signs. etc. Erecting toll facilities Finishing landscaping Source: Transportation Corridor Agencies; Researched by CAROLINE LEMKE / Los Angeles Times