Toll Road Agencies Unveil Survival Plan

The Orange County toll road agencies unveiled a plan Thursday to keep themselves in business for the next 36 years and remain independent from outside interests.

Threatened with the possibility of a takeover by the rival Orange County Transportation Authority, the Transportation Corridor Agencies Board of Directors developed a “blueprint” that it believes will help keep the agencies intact to finish building their three tollways, collect fees from developers to help finance the roads, repay all borrowing on time and ensure that tolls are removed by 2032.

“We want to keep the [Transportation Corridor Agencies] independent so the building of the corridors is our No. 1 priority,” said Wally Kreutzen, acting chief executive officer of the agencies.

Kreutzen said the agencies could be dissolved earlier if some tollway officials want another entity to oversee toll collection when the last of the three toll roads is finished in the year 2015. All three roads--the San Joaquin Hills, Eastern and Foothill tollways--are expected to open by the year 2003, but additional lanes and improvements are to be finished over the subsequent 12 years. The San Joaquin Hills toll road is scheduled to open by the end of this year between San Juan Capistrano and Newport Beach.