Candlelight Vigil Planned to Protest Laguna Tollway : Activism: Opponents of the San Joaquin Hills corridor, which would slice through the canyon, hope the county’s bankruptcy will hinder the project.

Buoyed by hope that the county’s financial woes could waylay plans for a toll road through Laguna Canyon, San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor opponents will continue protesting the project with a candlelight vigil here Friday.

Although tollway builders say the road is not threatened by the fiscal crisis, some foes believe that Orange County’s bankruptcy will make it harder--if not impossible--to finance the project.

The Transportation Corridor Agencies, charged with building three Orange County toll roads, has roughly a third of its funding tied up in the county’s wobbly investment portfolio, including $311.4 million for the San Joaquin Hills corridor.

“We definitely feel the bankruptcy is going to play a major roll in all three of the toll roads,” said activist Patrick Mitchell of Garden Grove. “It seems it would be ridiculous to not have textbooks in our schools and not be able to pay our teachers but to build a billion-dollar road that is unnecessary.”

But agency spokeswoman Lisa Telles said that the 17-mile San Joaquin Hills corridor, which would link Newport Beach and San Juan Capistrano, is needed and will be built.

“We have no intention of stopping or slowing construction of the San Joaquin Hills corridor,” Telles said. “We’re committed to completing the project.”

Telles said the agency was still trying Wednesday to figure out exactly how its funds are invested with the county but that she is confident the agency’s road projects will not be stopped or even delayed.

Tollway opponents see it differently.

“We have always contended (that the agency) will go bankrupt,” said Jeanie Bernstein, a member of the Canyon Coalition, which is planning the 5 p.m. vigil Friday at Main Beach.

The road is highly controversial because it would slice through Laguna Canyon and the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park.

Construction has been moving briskly at both ends of the corridor and is 40% complete, Telles said. But work has been stalled in the canyon area by court challenges brought by environmental groups, led by Laguna Greenbelt Inc.

In September, 1993, roadway opponents obtained a preliminary injunction to temporarily halt construction of the project between El Toro Road and Newport Coast Drive.

On June 14, when a judge lifted that injunction, bulldozers and protesters converged on the site. Grading was halted the following day by another court order.

But on Dec. 6, a panel of judges again hoisted a green flag for the toll road. Telles said she expects construction to begin again the first week of January.

In the meantime, protesters have been undergoing civil disobedience training; some say they will risk arrest to block construction in the canyon.

“If the bulldozers roll, we’re going to be there,” Bernstein said.