Road Owner Sues to Block New 91 Lanes

Fearing a drastic reduction in business that would “irreparably” damage the economic viability of the 91 toll lanes, the road’s owner filed suit against state transportation officials Friday to permanently block additional free lanes along the congested freeway.

The suit alleges that a Caltrans project involving a new 3.3-mile freeway stretch directly violates the 1990 franchise agreement for the road.

“We’re asking the court for an injunction to require them [the state] to stop working on the project,” said Greg Hulsizer, general manager for the 91 Express Lanes. “We regret that the action is necessary.”

The $140-million toll road runs 10 miles from the Riverside County line to the Costa Mesa Freeway. To protect investors, the franchise agreement by the California Private Transportation Co., LP, and Caltrans severely limited the state’s right to build more lanes along the tollway.

The toll lanes rely on heavy traffic for business. An innovative “congestion pricing” system on the road charges motorists the most during rush hours. But additional free lanes could mean less congestion and, in turn, less business for the profit-motivated 91 Express Lanes investors.

A study done by Wilbur Smith Associates, the express lanes’ traffic consultant, found that the plans for added lanes by the California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, would result in a “revenue reduction in the range of 40[%] to 50% per year for the years from 2001 to 2015.”

The suit alleges that Caltrans engineers have moved forward with the project despite the toll road operator’s objections.

Caltrans officials dispute the claim that plans to build what they call “auxiliary lanes” along the stretch between Coal Canyon Road and the State Route 71 interchange would violate the agreement.

“This is an issue of public safety vs. private profit,” said Caltrans spokeswoman Deborah Harris. “Basically, we are trying to improve the safety in that area because we have noticed there is an unusual pattern of accidents because of dense traffic.”

Harris said Caltrans engineers have been working on a solution, most likely the addition of lanes at freeway on-ramps that would then merge back into regular traffic at some point down the road.

“We are not talking about continuous single lanes,” she said.

The franchise agreement does allow for changes to be made that would improve public safety.

The 91 Express Lanes are part of the first privately owned and operated road in the state, and they remain one of two such projects built under a 1989 state law. In the early 1990s many in the transportation community believed that privately built roads might be the solution for an increasingly tight budget for publicly funded projects.

But it has proved more difficult to turn a dime than early supporters hoped.

There have been four price hikes for use of the 91 Express Lanes in the three years the road has been open--the most recent in January.

Last summer, around the same time the toll road operator announced that the project broke even for the first time, its executives began shopping the road to NewTrac, a group of Orange County businessmen who have applied for nonprofit status. Negotiations for a sale are ongoing, said Hulsizer, the toll lanes’ general manager.

Both sides said that they have enjoyed a good relationship and hope the issue can be resolved.