Bill Would Form Board to Purchase 91 Toll Lanes

Assemblyman Rod Pacheco (R-Riverside) on Tuesday introduced a measure that would require Gov. Gray Davis to get an independent appraisal of the 91 Express Lanes as well as establish a local authority to acquire the private toll lanes.

Under Pacheco’s bill, AB2091, members of the Route 91 Toll Facility Authority would be appointed by county supervisors and transportation board members from Orange and Riverside counties. Their mission would be to try to buy or condemn the four private lanes that run 10 miles along the median of the Riverside Freeway, from Anaheim to the Orange-Riverside county border.

The authority would then operate the road.

“We’re trying to do something,” Pacheco said. “We’ve got a very clear choice between doing something and doing nothing. And for the people who must drive the 91 every day, doing nothing is unacceptable.”

While Pacheco called the Riverside Freeway the “worst-congested highway corridor in the state,” Caltrans is prohibited from making major improvements for at least 15 years under a controversial agreement the agency struck last year with toll road officials.

His proposal did not specify whether the authority would use state funds or sell bonds to finance the purchase of the road. Pacheco said he wanted to keep the bill flexible in its early stages as he tries to build support among legislators.

However, he specifically ruled out the use of local tax funds, saying he did not want to preempt other important transportation projects already planned by the Orange County Transportation Authority or the Riverside County Transportation Commission. And his bill did not specify whether tolls would be lifted if a public authority took over the project.

Pacheco’s bill is one of two proposals advancing in Sacramento. Last week, state Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana) called for mediation between the private toll lanes’ operator, California Private Transportation Co., and Caltrans. Dunn would like an agreement that would allow Caltrans to improve and widen the traffic-choked freeway.

In an deal approved last fall, Caltrans Director Jose Medina agreed to shelve plans to widen the Riverside Freeway until traffic increases 53%. Traffic experts predict that will take 15 to 20 years.

Assemblyman Lou Correa (D-Anaheim), a member of the Assembly Transportation Committee, would not say Tuesday whether he will support Pacheco’s bill.

“I just want to make sure there is not a taxpayer bailout of a private enterprise,” Correa said. But Correa did say that Pacheco “correctly points out an important issue, and that is the valuation of this toll facility.”

Managers of the private toll lanes could not be reached for comment late Tuesday. In the past, they have said the road is for sale for $210 million. A nonprofit group tried unsuccessfully last year to buy the toll lanes, but the group did not get an independent appraisal.