Freeway Improvement Projects Help Lessen the Toll on Commuters

Running late for an afternoon business appointment in Mission Viejo, Joseph Roth glanced at his watch and braced himself for the inevitable sea of brake lights at the dreaded El Toro Y.

“I thought I was dead in the water as far as making my appointment,” the Anaheim resident recalled. “Then I drove through the Y without even touching my brakes once. It was weird. It was kind of like ‘The Twilight Zone.’ ”

But such easier commutes are becoming more common these days for motorists who had grown weary of battling traffic on south Orange County freeways. They’re evidence that recent multimillion-dollar highway improvement and toll road projects seem to be accomplishing their goal: relieving the notorious freeway congestion where the San Diego and Santa Ana freeways meet.

Though rush hour hasn’t disappeared, “there is a definite, definite improvement,” said California Highway Patrol spokeswoman Carol Kelly, who is based in San Juan Capistrano. “Traffic used to be backed up eight miles at rush hour . . . [now] people are saving at least 10 to 20 minutes” on a one-way commute.

The projects that have spelled relief for the area include the opening of a toll road, the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor, and the completion of a $166-million project to widen the El Toro Y from eight to 26 lanes.

The $800-million toll road running between San Juan Capistrano and Newport Beach handles about 54,000 vehicle trips each day, 70% of which carry commuters from the southern part of the county, toll road officials say.

The improvements included carpool overpasses joining the two freeways without entering the main flow of traffic.

Time saved behind the wheel has become a matter of bragging rights for motorists, who say they are less stressed at the end of the day. “For me, it’s a quality of life issue,” said Laguna Hills Councilman Joel Lautenschleger, whose daily round-trip commute to Costa Mesa has shrunk by 50 minutes since the San Joaquin Hills toll road opened last year. Using toll roads, he said, “Instead of adding to my stress [it’s] like driving through the country. I am more relaxed at home and ready to do things with the kids.”

Shortcuts once used to escape congested freeway traffic have largely been abandoned.

Lautenschleger and other community officials say fewer drivers are using their city streets to bypass traffic jams, an impression supported by a recent study by the Transportation Corridor Agency, the toll-road builder.

Completed in December, a month after the toll road opened, the study showed traffic on Laguna Canyon Road--a route used to avoid freeway congestion--decreased by 23% because of traffic diverted to the pay road and the 405 Freeway.

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The situation is the same on Pacific Coast Highway and Moulton Parkway, two other major arterial roads in south Orange County, said Mission Viejo Councilwoman Susan Withrow, who is also on the Orange County Transportation Authority’s board of directors.

Withrow said there have been significant decreases in vehicles resorting to Mission Viejo side streets, providing “an incredible impact in terms of relieving peak hour traffic.”

According to a recent OCTA study, the public also has noticed the improvement.

Formerly the top-ranked concern among Orange County residents, transportation has slipped behind crime, poverty and other social ills, Withrow said.

Local real estate agents said the improved commute has made South County homes easier to sell.

“People are less likely to be worried about getting property in South Orange County now,” said Wendy Webb, a Realtor with Advanced Real Estate Services.

“The freeway is better now, I just hope it stays that way.”

Transportation officials said there is no need to worry about the future. The toll road is far from reaching its capacity and there is room for lane expansions. Another pay road running east of the San Diego Freeway, the Foothill Transportation Corridor, will be completed by 2003.

But with jobs in Orange County expected to increase 44% and population by 30% by 2030, “There will be hundreds of thousands of additional car trips on our roads in the future,” Withrow conceded. “We have some important decisions to make to make sure we don’t return to the previous levels of congestion.”