Toll Road Bypass Already Exists

The Times editorial (“More Twists, Turns in Toll Road Debate,” Jan. 28) was right on. Not only is that the obvious solution, but it’s the only legally and ethically correct solution.

It appears that this whole “toll road debate” could have been prevented if our leaders had not lost sight of the fact that Newport Coast Drive and the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor are two separate and distinct projects, serving different populations and areas of the county. Both are critical to an efficient circulation system. One cannot be allowed to take precedence to the detriment of the other.

The “alternative free bypass road” at the root of the controversy today was an afterthought. It surfaced in late 1992 after an article appeared in a magazine showing Newport Coast Drive terminating at the toll road. This so-called free bypass is a feeble attempt to circumvent the law and get the taxpayers to pay again for a road that is not needed, except to let the Transportation Corridor Agencies off the hook.

In all cases where the state has authorized a major thoroughfare to be constructed and operated as a toll road, whether public or private, the law requires “alternative parallel highway facilities” to provide an option for motorists who may not be able to pay.

In the case of the San Joaquin Hills toll road, motorists traveling between Interstate 5 in San Juan Capistrano (through the San Joaquin Hills) and the San Diego Freeway in Costa Mesa would pay a toll at the mainline toll plaza, with the freeways serving as the required “alternative facilities” for the motorist who could not or did not want to pay.

However, there is no such alternative available to area commuters if the TCA is allowed to eliminate the last 1.5-mile section of Newport Coast Drive, rendering the route useless as the required regional thoroughfare around Corona del Mar.

The intent of the legislation authorizing toll roads in Orange County was to provide a funding mechanism to construct new highways in new locations. It didn’t include the “taking” of existing highways. To eliminate the need to construct a “bypass,” the corridor and the 1.5-mile section of Newport Coast Drive should coexist, as originally envisioned.

If the TCA doesn’t want to share the roadway, then they have the option to build a parallel alternative road, similar to the parallel frontage road they are providing between Laguna Canyon Road and El Toro Road (where a parallel road is not even required). In any case, the cost is the TCA’s responsibility, not the taxpayers’.

CAROLYN WOOD

Laguna Beach