Breaking Up the Bottlenecks

Orange County’s newest toll road--a 17-mile link to the fast-growing Inland Empire--lived up to its early billing Monday, experts and traffic-weary commuters agreed.

On the Eastern Toll Road’s first day open to rush-hour traffic, motorists and traffic planners said the road shortened commute times. And traffic on the Costa Mesa and Riverside freeways--normally the only choice for commuters from Riverside and San Bernardino counties--was noticeably lighter, they said.

Traffic planners are quick to note that the toll road is free until Sunday, so use may drop next week. But they said even if traffic levels decrease, the tollway will result in a fundamental shift in the area’s traffic patterns.

“This is two thumbs up. Way up. It by far exceeded my expectations,” said Joe Elharake, a Caltrans toll road coordinator who monitored traffic Monday on the toll road and the Riverside, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana freeways.

Even if use drops by half next week, when tolls of up to $3.25 kick in, “this is going to continue to be the release valve needed on the 55, 5 and 91” freeways, he said.

The Transportation Corridor Agencies, which oversee the county’s toll roads, did not have statistics immediately available on the number of motorists who used the tollway, but Elharake said so many shifted to the road that no serious slowdowns were observed on any of the freeways monitored.

Traffic projections for the Eastern tollway are 48,000 cars a day on the busiest section by 2000. By 2020, road planners believe nearly 82,000 cars a day will use the road, which stretches from Corona to Irvine.

A surge in toll road use may be apparent as early as next year when motorists use the road to avoid the Costa Mesa Freeway between the Riverside and Garden Grove freeways, where a road-widening project is expected to hamper traffic for two years, according to David Elbaum, director of planning and development for the Orange County Transportation Authority.

Toll road use also is expected to increase when a seven-mile western extension of the road toward Tustin is completed early next year.

Though traffic eased considerably along many area freeways Monday, the toll road did not solve all traffic problems. On the Riverside Freeway leading up to the toll road, westbound traffic was still heavy, said Sgt. Diane Hartz of the California Highway Patrol. And though traffic on the Riverside Freeway west of the toll road was flowing, Hartz said it moved only 15 to 30 mph at times.

“It did seem to flow better, but it’s still heavy,” Hartz said.

Commuters heading into Orange County, however, said Monday’s commute was like none before.

“I loved it,” said Dee Eddingfield, who has commuted from Corona to Orange for 20 years and used the toll road Monday. “It was smooth as could be. Very fast. We did the full speed limit the whole way.”

Eddingfield said her commute typically takes about an hour and 20 minutes via the FasTrak lanes on the Riverside Freeway to the carpool lanes on the Costa Mesa Freeway. Yesterday’s commute on the toll road took only 55 minutes.

Glenn Paulson, who works with Eddingfield at a mortgage company, said his commute from Riverside also took only 55 minutes, although he stayed on the 91 and 55 freeways. “It was a dramatic difference from most days,” said Paulson, who said both mixed-use and carpool lanes flowed smoothly.

What surprised Elharake, the toll road coordinator, was the amount of traffic going north on the toll road. Also, he said, an unexpectedly large number of trucks used the road. Based on Monday’s traffic, the freeway may not be wide enough, he said.

“I’m starting to think we may have to add more lanes,” he said.