IRVINE : Vote on Toll Bypass Delayed by Council

Council members have postponed a vote that would clear the way to build the controversial Newport Coast Drive bypass, but officials say the city has little choice but to approve the county’s construction plans.

Bypass opponents have urged the city to block construction of the route, which they say allows a 1 1/2-mile section of Newport Coast Drive to be used for the San Joaquin Hills toll road. The bypass was devised to provide motorists traveling on Newport Coast Drive between Pacific Coast Highway and inland Orange County a toll-free route.

A group of Newport Beach homeowners is challenging the legality of using part of Newport Coast Drive for a privately funded toll road.

“That part of Newport Coast Drive belongs to Irvine,” said Jim Toledano, a Costa Mesa attorney who filed suit in September against the Transportation Corridor Agencies. “The TCA has no authority to take it over.”

Council members, who on Tuesday postponed their decision, are scheduled to vote on the plans at their Jan. 9 meeting.

While the council members have said they oppose construction of the bypass and have vowed not to fund its construction, they approved the route in March under threat of losing road construction funds from the county.

Mayor Michael Ward said the threat still exists.

“We have to turn this road over to the county or we will lose our Measure M funds,” Ward said, referring to the sales tax approved by voters to fund transportation improvements. “We’ve done all we can to keep this road from being built.”

Two bridge-widening projects in the city totaling $920,000 have been delayed by the county so the money can be used to help fund the $10.5-million bypass.

City approval of the county’s construction plans would amount to sanctioning the county’s delay of the two Irvine projects, said bypass opponent George Gallagher, president of the Irvine Conservancy.

“They should vote ‘no,’ ” Gallagher said. “They should not approve their funding being removed.”