The Costliest Toll Road Plan in All the Land

The most casual observer is aware that toll road construction has paved over hundreds of acres of Orange County’s dwindling open space. The San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor cleaved the Laguna Canyon wilderness only to provide slightly improved travel for approximately half the expected riders. The Eastern Transportation Corridor, currently under construction, is weaving its own path of destruction through the northeastern portion of the county’s open space. And now, in southeast Orange County, the Transportation Corridor Agencies are planning the coup de grace--the Foothill Transportation Corridor South (FTC-South).

Approximately 17 miles and $650 million worth of devastation would slice through the largest, and perhaps best, remaining wild land in Orange County; land worthy of becoming a national park.

Should this last and most destructive toll road be constructed? No. And here are several reasons why:

First and foremost, in Orange County we have significant expanses of wildlife habitats found nowhere else in the world. These unique resources contribute considerably to the ambience of Southern California; the reason people like to live here. The FTC-South--cutting a swath through South County and ultimately inducing even more sprawl--would destroy natural resources and fragment habitat far beyond the footprint of its pavement.

The currently proposed alignment would produce maximal damage to Orange County’s natural heritage. If built, it would severely impact wetlands and high concentrations of endangered species. No fewer than six federally threatened or endangered species--the Pacific pocket mouse, Southwestern arroyo toad, least Bell’s vireo, Southwestern willow flycatcher, California gnatcatcher and Tidewater goby--would all be hard hit. The toll road would bisect magnificent vistas with troughs and bridges of concrete and asphalt, ruining what little is left of the historic landscape of our region.

One would think that there was a compelling transportation need to justify such widespread destruction. Yet little, if any, long-term relief from traffic congestion can be expected. In 1997, Transportation Research, a transportation journal, published a study titled “Road Supply and Traffic in California Urban Areas,” which determined that every 10% increase in road capacity was followed by a 9% increase in traffic volume within a five-year period. There is every reason to believe that the FTC-South would cause the same result.

Furthermore, all specific claims made by the TCA have proven empty when objectively examined. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have issued three successive letters rejecting increasingly desperate attempts by the TCA to manufacture a traffic-related benefit. The last letter from the EPA to the Federal Highway Administration (the TCA’s federal oversight agency) solidly summed up all past and present attempts to justify the FTC-South, and repeated its conclusion: nonconcurrence with purpose and need.

Among the 10 criticisms leveled, the EPA was troubled that the TCA seemed to jump from justification to justification, hoping that one would stick. They disagreed with the TCA’s air quality benefit claims. In defining the purpose for the toll road, the TCA actually attempted to use “avoidance and minimization of impacts to the natural and urban environment” as a rationale. When the supposed benefits turned out to rest on dubious traffic assumptions, the EPA questioned the wisdom of such a huge project. So should we.

Additionally, a review of the data by traffic engineers at the Bay Area transportation consulting firm OpTrans points out that the FTC-South could ultimately “be delivering more traffic to I-5 than can be accommodated” where they would merge. OpTrans also concluded that alternatives to the toll road were not examined and that the TCA’s studies focused on alignment rather than need.

To try to defend itself from the devastating blows dealt by the federal agencies, the TCA has worn a path to Capitol Hill, trying to accomplish politically what it cannot do through reasoned analysis. Despite the political heat, the EPA and the Corps are standing on the facts.

Meanwhile, the TCA is trying to gather momentum for the FTC-South by allocating $16.5 million for design and engineering of the proposed alignment. Such a tactic attempts to soften the opposition through the “How can you say no when we’ve invested so much money?” approach. This cynical scheme demonstrates bad faith in exploring better alternatives, and should raise a red flag to those interested in how the TCA manages its finances.

The bottom line is that objective analysis has shown that the Foothill Transportation Corridor South will not relieve traffic congestion as some would have you believe. However, the damage it will inflict on the environment that defines Orange County will be all too real. It’s time decision-makers recognize this toll road for the boondoggle it is and demand that it be shelved permanently.