IRVINE : Packed 5-Hour Debate Yields Vote for Bypass

After five hours of debate in a room packed with 250 residents, the city Planning Commission early Friday approved a bypass route to the planned San Joaquin Hills toll road that UC Irvine residents fear will bring increased traffic and noise to the campus.

Planning commissioners were faced with two proposed routes that pitted residents in the city’s Turtle Rock Village against UCI faculty members who live in the University Hills residential development on campus.

The need for a bypass route was prompted by plans to incorporate a 1.5-mile section of Newport Coast Drive into the San Joaquin Hills toll road, ending free access between Irvine and Newport Beach on the road. The bypass route will provide a toll-free alternative to the toll road.

A lawsuit was filed in September against the Transportation Corridor Agencies to bar the toll road from including part of Newport Coast Drive.

University officials argued unsuccessfully for a route that would link Newport Coast Drive to Culver Drive. But most planning commissioners rejected that, saying they feared a dramatic increase in traffic through the city if Culver became a direct connection to the beach.

Commissioners voted 4 to 1 in favor of a bypass route linking Newport Coast Drive to Bonita Canyon Road, bringing northbound traffic to the doorstep of the university.