Suit Against Toll Lanes Is Green-Lighted

Efforts to abolish a private tollway on the notoriously clogged Riverside Freeway gained legal momentum Tuesday when a judge refused to kill a lawsuit that contends the 91 Express Lanes were built illegally.

The ruling places the case on track for a jury trial. Jurors won’t hear the matter any time soon though: Lawyers said trial preparations will take at least a year.

Filed by Riverside County, the suit contends the California Department of Transportation broke the law when it allowed the 10-mile tollway to be built on the freeway median--land the county says should be reserved for public use. Riverside County officials hope to scuttle the franchise agreement between Caltrans and owners of the 91 Express Lanes, opening the private lanes to nonpaying drivers.

Lawyers for Caltrans and California Private Transportation Co., the tollway owner, insisted the suit be dismissed because it was filed more than a decade after the toll lane deal was struck and violated separation of powers by asking the court to reverse a decision made by the Legislature and Caltrans.

Those arguments, however, failed to sway San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Joan M. Borba, who brushed aside those claims and rebuked toll road owners and Caltrans for failing to follow proper legal procedures in filing their requests for dismissal. When a Caltrans lawyer asked if he could respond to the judge’s ruling, Borba called for the next case. After the hearing, lawyers and Caltrans officials left Express Lanes General Manager Greg Hulsizer to field questions.

“Obviously we’re disappointed,” Hulsizer said. “We thought we had laid the case out very well. The bottom line is that this is a politically motivated piece of litigation.”

The lawsuit, filed in March, is one of a number of legal challenges against the toll lanes that Riverside County has filed. The latest was prompted by a Riverside County resident who complained that the Riverside Freeway commute is becoming unbearable.

Lawyers for Riverside County say that if their suit is a success, it would ultimately open the private lanes. A victory would also free the state from an agreement that restricts Caltrans’ ability to add general lanes to the Riverside Freeway.

Although increasing congestion along the freeway has resulted in grueling, sometimes hours-long commutes, the agreement limits improvements that would reduce the toll lanes’ profits.

Toll lane foes were elated by Tuesday’s decision.

“This is great,” said Corona City Councilman Jeff Miller, who attend the brief hearing in the Rancho Cucamonga courtroom. “The people of Corona are absolutely fed up with the traffic congestion.”

Riverside County lawyers had hoped to tap into such local commuter angst during the trial but the tollway’s lawyers succeeded in moving the case to San Bernardino County.

The franchise to operate the 91 Express Lanes was one of only four such franchises established by the Legislature in 1989. Of those, two have been abandoned and one still needs permits. Only the 91 Express Lanes are operating.

“This was a failed state experiment,” said Jeffrey Dunne, a lawyer representing Riverside County. “It’s very similar to energy deregulation. . . . For the people who have to live with this, this is a very serious matter.”

The tollway case is being watched closely by Orange County transportation officials. County Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who sits on the Orange County Transportation Authority board of directors, has tried to work out a compromise between Riverside County and the private toll operator, but said those efforts will be put aside until the legal fight has been settled.

“I think this is a very important issue,” Spitzer said. “In my opinion, the state cannot give up its responsibility to manage roads. The private sector can build them, but I don’t think it can manage them. That’s because their primary motivation is profit and not the welfare of the public.”