Road Will Shorten Drive but Take a Toll

Attention commuters and other drivers who venture into the southern end of Orange County:

The final stretch of a controversial toll road connecting Laguna Niguel to John Wayne Airport is set to open Nov. 21, in time for Thanksgiving and well ahead of schedule.

“We’re putting signs up, doing some striping and putting railing on the bridges,” project manager Gene Foster said of the 15-mile San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor. “The pavement is there.”

The new tollway’s first segment--a seven-mile stretch from Greenfield Drive in Laguna Niguel to Laguna Canyon Road--opened July 24. At that time, officials predicted that the rest of the road would open in December.

But because of good weather, coordinated planning and financial incentives to the contractors for finishing early, the road will open sooner, agency officials said. When completed, the road is expected to siphon traffic off Coast Highway and the Santa Ana and San Diego freeways, reducing to 20 minutes a one-way commute between Laguna Niguel and Newport Beach that can now take as long as an hour and a half.

But that convenience will come at a price: Tolls on the new road are expected to range from 25 cents to $2, depending on the points of entry and exit. The tolls will be payable either in cash or by using transponders, devices mounted on windshields that allow electronic detectors to debit a driver’s account.

The $1.5-billion project is the cornerstone of three major toll roads in south Orange County--totaling 70 miles--that have been under construction since 1993 and are expected to be completed by 2003.

But the project has drawn controversy. For years, environmentalists and Laguna Canyon residents protested the toll road, arguing that it would destroy the wilderness area through which the road passes. Some protesters chained themselves to bulldozers to stop the work, prompting legal actions and delays.

The first segment of road carries an average of 8,500 cars a day, officials said, and they expect the full road to handle 70,000 daily vehicles after a year.

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Open Early

Final section of the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor will open Nov. 21, bringing the entire roadway into service earlier than expected. Here’s what’s open now and what will be ready in November: