2 Toll Roads Get 87 Emergency Call Boxes, Ending Dispute

Commuters on South County’s two toll roads now can call for help from roadside call boxes in emergencies.

Resolving a long-standing dispute between the county’s two major transportation agencies over who should pay for what, toll-road operators announced Thursday that 87 new call boxes have been installed on the San Joaquin Hills and Foothill transportation corridors.

“It’s about time,” said Sarah Catz, the Orange County Transportation Authority board member who was instrumental in getting the boxes installed. “I’m thrilled. There are going to be a lot more relaxed drivers. . . .”’

Catz first raised the issue in January after realizing what she described as the “extreme danger” potentially facing drivers stranded on the toll roads.

The roads had not been equipped with call boxes, she said, because of a disagreement on funding between the OCTA and the Transportation Corridor Agencies.

“I used the toll roads all the time,” Catz said, “and during the winter months the fog settles in and it’s spooky. It’s isolated. You can’t see the car in front of you. If your car becomes disabled, there’s nothing you can do. I felt it was such an incredible danger that I stopped using the toll roads at night.”

Under an agreement reached earlier this year, the TCA paid $2,600 for the installation of each call box, while the OCTA will pay about $800 annually per box for maintenance and operation.

The cellular solar-powered call boxes, installed at half-mile intervals in both directions, connect to the California Highway Patrol.

The new call boxes, Catz said, will increase traffic on the toll roads by at least one car.