O.C. to Open Talks to Buy 91 Toll Lanes

Trying to relieve severe congestion on the Riverside Freeway, the Orange County Transportation Authority took a key step Monday toward buying the 91 Express Lanes, a privately operated toll road that runs down the median of the highway.

Transportation leaders in Riverside and Orange counties have blamed the tollway for worsening rush-hour congestion along one of the busiest freeways in Southern California. Because of a deal they struck with the state years ago, tollway owners can veto freeway widenings from the junction with Interstate 15 to the Orange-Los Angeles County line.

OCTA’s 15-member board unanimously authorized its staff to enter negotiations with the California Private Transportation Co., which operates the 10-mile tollway in northeast Orange County.

The value of the tollway is unclear. Rarely, if ever, has a governmental entity tried to buy a privately owned turnpike. As part of a controversial attempt to sell the 91 Express Lanes a few years ago, the company’s value was set at $230 million, an amount some critics said is too high.

The lanes were built for about $130 million, but company officials say the future for the company is improving after its debt was refinanced several months ago at a lower rate.

“The devil is going to be in the details,” said County Supervisor Todd Spitzer, an OCTA board member and critic of the 91 Express Lanes. “The price will definitely determine our options.”

The tollway, which opened in 1996, consists of two lanes in each direction, extending from north Anaheim to the Riverside County line. That stretch of the public highway is known for brake-stomping bottlenecks during rush hours.

To ensure the turnpike’s success, Caltrans and California Private Transportation agreed in the early 1990s that the 91 Express Lanes would have veto power over improvements to the freeway if they threaten to take away customers. The pact ends in 2030.

Critics say the non-compete agreement has made it difficult to improve the freeway so it can handle the explosive growth in the Inland Empire. Riverside County has sued to terminate the deal.

Today, there are about 270,000 vehicle trips a day on the Riverside Freeway, the vast majority commuters working in Orange and Los Angeles counties. About 33,000 daily trips are made on the 91 Express Lanes. By 2015, freeway traffic is expected to swell to about 400,000 vehicle trips a day.

“The whole reason for doing this is to end the non-compete clause,” said Arthur T. Leahy, OCTA’s chief executive officer. “It has been a big problem. We must break the impasse to put in improvements.”

Leahy, who will be OCTA’s chief negotiator, said talks could begin as early as next month. He described initial discussions with California Private Transportation Co. as cordial. Still, he said, negotiations will be difficult.

“We are strongly behind this,” said Irvine City Councilman Mike Ward, who chairs the OCTA board. “You have to praise [the transportation company] for building lanes when there was no money for freeways, but congestion has continued to worsen.”

Although California Private Transportation Co. officials are willing to meet with OCTA officials, Greg Hulsizer, the company’s general manager, has said repeatedly that the tollway is not for sale.

The quickest way to reduce congestion on the Riverside Freeway, he says, is for the 91 Express Lanes to be extended another 10 miles, from the Riverside County line to Interstate 15 near Corona. Several years ago, a Southern California Assn. of Governments study reached the same conclusion.

But elected officials in Riverside County say they would never approve an extension of the tollway into the Inland Empire. The non-compete agreement with Caltrans, they say, has allowed a private company to control the future of a state highway.

“That toll road would be better off in the hands of a government agency. It would give us a lot more flexibility to make improvements,” said Riverside County Supervisor John Tavaglione, whose district includes Corona, which has been hit hard by the freeway congestion.

Caltrans declined to comment on OCTA’s action. Dennis Trujillo, a department spokesman, said the agency might have to review and approve any transfer of the tollway’s agreement with the state.