The High Road : Tollway Would Let Drivers Cruise Above Santa Ana Channel

Mel Placilla looks at the Santa Ana River and sees a road running through it.

The veteran engineer is the manager of a unique project--perhaps the only one like it in the nation--to build an elevated toll road down the middle of the cemented, mostly dry river. When completed, the tollway would stretch 11 miles from near Anaheim Stadium to the Corona del Mar Freeway, near John Wayne Airport.

The privately built road would be a southern extension of the heavily traveled Orange Freeway. The extension, which state planners originally intended to link with Pacific Coast Highway, has been on Caltrans’ drawing board for almost three decades, but a shortage of funds has prevented the state from building it.

The still unnamed road is unofficially called the Santa Ana Viaduct Expressway, but some proponents are also calling it the Duke to Ducks Freeway. That is a reference to the airport and The Pond of Anaheim, home of the Mighty Ducks hockey team, near Anaheim Stadium.

Financing for the $650-million thoroughfare will be arranged by a group of private investors led by H. Ross Perot Jr. The project has been in the talking stage for two years, but the tollway will clear the first bureaucratic hurdle this week, when the National Transportation Authority--a joint venture between Greiner Engineering Inc. and The Perot Group--is expected to sign a right-of-way agreement with the Orange County Flood Control District.

Most of the project will be funded through the sale of bonds to private investors, but the Orange County Transportation Authority has agreed to contribute $12 million for an environmental study. The state will assume ownership of the thoroughfare when it is completed and eventually get a share of the revenues.

If built, the Santa Ana River toll road would be the fifth in Orange County. Privately built tollways designed to ease traffic congestion are becoming increasingly common, especially in Southern California, where crowded freeways are a commuter’s daily nightmare.

Public reaction to the tollway has been nonexistent so far, mainly because the project is still in the design phase and government agencies have not scheduled public hearings. The cities affected by the project include Orange, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Fountain Valley and Costa Mesa.

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Orange County director of public works William L. Zaun, who is negotiating a right-of-use agreement with Placilla’s company, said “we have not had any discussions with neighboring cities about this project.”

“The cities’ input will take place during the environmental review process, when the community at large is given an opportunity to comment,” Zaun added.

Zaun and others familiar with the project insist the tollway can be built, but only if Placilla’s company can secure the financing. Placilla acknowledged there is a shortage of investors for the project at the moment and said he is in a “mini ‘Catch-22’ situation.”

“We can’t go to the investment community to get the money until the environmental report is approved. And we can’t begin the environmental review until we sign a right-of-way agreement with the (flood control) district,” Placilla said.

Hubert Himes, the Caltrans official in Santa Ana overseeing the project for the state, said it is believed to be the first road designed to be constructed above an inactive river in the United States. He and other government officials expressed warm, if not enthusiastic support for the project.

According to Himes, the National Transportation Authority was one of four companies awarded franchises from among 500 international applicants who responded to a 1990 Caltrans request to submit proposals for privately financed transportation projects in the state. Of all the companies that applied, 10 were invited to submit plans and four projects were selected.

Caltrans awarded a franchise for the Santa Ana River tollway to Placillas’ company on Jan. 11, 1991. The other three franchises were given for the toll road project currently under construction in the middle of the Riverside Freeway, between the Costa Mesa Freeway and the Riverside County line, and tollways in San Diego and the Bay Area.

Himes said Caltrans will assume ownership of the tollway on the day it opens, but the builders will be permitted to collect tolls for 35 years to pay for the project. During that time, Placillas’ company will also be responsible for all operational costs, including paying Caltrans to help maintain the roadway and the California Highway Patrol to police it.

“However, our franchise agreement includes a 20% limit on the profit they can make, above the construction cost,” Himes said. “Any profit they make after reaching the cap would go directly to the state. When we drew up the agreement, it seemed like there was a potential for paying it off in a few years.”

Both Himes and Placilla said motorists would pay a reduced toll or use the road for free once the project is paid off.

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Sometime within the next 14 days, Placilla expects to sign a right-of-use agreement with the county flood control district. Zaun said county officials are trying to decide how much Placilla’s company will pay for an easement 200 yards wide extending on each side from the middle of the river. In addition to the toll road, the company will also build bicycle and equestrian trails along the banks.

“We’re supposed to get together late this week or next to discuss the agreement and finalize our discussion. I hope we can finish with the compensation (to the county) issue, so the Board of Supervisors will give their agreement on the right-of-way agreement,” Zaun said.

Once the agreement with the flood control district is signed, the Orange County Transportation Authority will begin talks with the Placilla on an agreement for joint funding of an environmental study, said Dave Elbaum, director of planning for the transportation agency.

The transit agency has authorized $12 million for the study, and Placilla’s group is expected to contribute an additional $13 million for the environmental report, Elbaum said.

“But they still have to negotiate their deal with (Orange County) before we can act. We feel comfortable with project,” Elbaum added.

“This is the kind of project an engineer looks for. It’s not so much that it’s technologically challenging,” Placilla said. “Rather, it’s an organizational challenge that when completed will bring you some recognition. Building the road will be relatively easy. Organizing the project and then getting approval from the local, state and federal agencies will probably be the most demanding task.”

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Indeed, to hear Placilla explain it, the road could almost be designed by an engineering 101 student. It is as easy as driving concrete columns down the middle of the river at equal intervals and then laying a concrete deck over them. Well, almost as easy.

The tollway will rise four feet to 20 feet above the levee, built on concrete columns that will be 10 feet wide, spaced at intervals of 100 feet or 150 feet and anchored up to 20 feet into the river bottom, Placilla said.

It will have two lanes running in each direction, with each lane capable of carrying up to 1,700 cars per hour with a maximum speed of 60 m.p.h. Barring unforeseen obstacles in the permit and environmental review process, construction on the project is scheduled to begin in 1998 and be completed by 2002.

The tollway will follow the Santa Ana River to the San Diego Freeway (405) and then swing south to link with the Corona del Mar Freeway (73).

“We expect the toll to cost $4 during peak hours, $1.50 during non-peak day hours and 50 cents at night,” Placilla said. “But as usage increases and the road begins to get congested, we will raise the toll to maintain a steady level of service and encourage commuters to ride-share.”

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Most officials who have reviewed plans for the tollway have given it their approval. Zaun and Bruce Henderson, an official with the Army Corps of Engineers, said there are no apparent environmental obstacles to hamper the project.

After all, how many endangered species of birds or animals can be found living on the river’s cement bottom, Zaun said.

“I don’t think we’ll have a bugs and bunnies issue here,” agreed Placilla. “Our environmental issues will be more human related. The project will certainly affect people who live near the river. I expect air quality and noise to be the major issues affecting construction.”

Henderson said the Corps’ main concerns are that the columns used to support the road not affect the hydrology of the river, and the oil and gas leaked by cars not pollute the river bottom.

“As long as the river’s capacity can be maintained and the structures do not impinge the flow of the water, I don’t see anything that the Corps would not permit at this point,” Henderson said.

But he said that federal law also requires the Corps to review the project and determine if another, less intrusive, alternative can be substituted for a road slicing through the middle of the river.

“But it doesn’t sound like it’s a horrible project. It’s a big, wide river. You would think they can design structures that can withstand the flow of the river and still allow traffic on the facility,” Henderson said.

Zaun said the tollway is designed to withstand a powerful flood, of the kind that occurs once in 200 years. As an example, Zaun said the road would be passable even in flooding like that of February, 1969, when torrential rains caused local creeks to overflow their banks and turned the Santa Ana River into a raging torrent.

“As far as we’re concerned, beginning the environmental study as early as this fall is a possibility, provided they (Placilla’s company) conclude financial arrangements with the Orange County Transportation Authority,” he said.

Riverbed Express

Under a franchise granted by Caltrans, elevated toll road may be built from Anaheim to Costa Mesa above the bed of the Santa Ana River. The expected cost of $650 million would be put up by private investors. Work on the Orange Freeway extension could begin in 1998.

Trails: Existing bike and horse trails at the riverbed ridges would remain intact with access from surface streets.

Capacity: Up to 1,700 cars per lane per hour, with an expected 60 m.p.h. average. No trucks would be allowed.

Future transit: Gap would allow development of mass transit, including electric trains or monorails.

Riverbed: Carries runoff down a gully to the ocean. The road is designed to withstand the force of a 200-year flood.

Fast-Lane Facts

Construction cost: $650 million

Project funding: National Transportation Authority, an investment group, will try to raise funds from private investors, most likely through bond sales.

Length of extension: 11 miles

Construction begins: 1998

Toll road opens: 2002

Rush hour fee: $4

Non-peak daytime fee: $1.50

Night: 50 cents Sources: National Transportation Authority, California Department of Transportation; Researched by APRIL JACKSON / Los Angeles Times