Toll Roads Ease Traffic Up to 20%, Report Says

Construction of a tollway network in Orange County has reduced traffic congestion on area freeways by as much as 20% and has spared motorists collectively more than 100,000 hours a day of commuter gridlock, toll-road officials say.

But that reduction has come at a price. With more motorists paying to drive the Transportation Corridor Agencies’ toll roads, the tollways themselves are suffering from congestion during morning commutes, slowing traffic to a 35-mph grind at several choke points.

In a report released Thursday, the toll-road agency said the county’s three public tollways have helped uncork traffic on the San Diego Freeway, giving motorists an alternative to the notorious El Toro Y and heavy traffic in South County.

Officials at the toll-road agency greeted the report as long-awaited proof that the tollway-building effort, which began eight years ago, is paying off. In the years after construction of the San Joaquin Hills, Eastern and Foothill toll roads, officials have taken a drubbing for overestimating the number of riders who would pay to use the tollways. Overall, the toll roads are seeing almost 5% fewer customers than first expected, though that is a sharp improvement from previous years.

“This report is validation that the toll roads are truly having a positive impact,” said Walter D. Kreutzen, chief executive of the toll-road agency. “We’ve saved motorists from wasting a lot of time.”

The report contends that had the toll roads not been built, Orange County freeways would now see anywhere between 4% and 25% more congestion, and 4,000 more tons of pollutants would be created annually.

On Thursday, many county motorists said the findings came as no surprise but complained that even if the tollways had succeeded in thinning out traffic on freeways, congestion remains a problem.

“I believe that the tollways have reduced traffic on the freeways, but there’s still too many people,” said Nadine Velastegui, a Lake Forest resident. “The traffic makes me really want to find a job closer to home or to relocate. I have better things to do with my time than spend it in the car.”

Sarah Pongetti, an Orange resident, agreed. “I avoid the freeways and don’t want to pay the toll. I take surface streets now.”

Tollway critics, however, were more skeptical about the report’s findings. Andrew Wetzler, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said he would need to know more about how the report was conducted before he could comment. “The agency doesn’t have a very good track record when it comes to projected figures,” he said. “I find it hard to believe.”

The flip side to the report’s good news is that county toll roads have begun suffering their own congestion over the last couple of years. Tollway officials are considering adding lanes to certain sections of the toll roads or possibly increasing the price of the toll. By increasing tolls, some motorists would be discouraged from using the route and traffic would thin out, officials say. This tactic, however, would have the effect of moving that traffic to other routes, including the freeways where congestion has been eased.

The Foothill tollway suffers congestion from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. between Bake Parkway and the Arroyo Trabuco Bridge, about a four-mile stretch. Toll officials have proposed adding a lane on the northbound side--a job that would cost $12.8 million.

The northbound San Joaquin Hills tollway suffers congestion during the same hour at its main toll plaza and between the El Toro and Aliso Creek road exits. The slowdown is due to added traffic from nearby onramps, said Lisa Telles, a toll road spokeswoman.

“We’re looking at possible solutions right now,” she said. “The problem is, if traffic begins to bog down on the toll roads, it’ll eliminate the value of using the toll roads in the first place. We’re not at that point yet, but we want to be ahead of the curve.”