Figures Are Deceiving in Foothill Toll Road Poll

Re “Poll Finds 58% Favor Foothill Extension,” June 7:.

The recent poll conducted at public expense by the Transportation Corridor Agencies regarding extending the Foothill toll road deserves greater scrutiny, particularly as the road would wipe out San Onofre State Beach and other areas important to Orange County’s quality of life.

The 58% level of support reported contrasts sharply with the 75% level of support noted only two years ago.

It is remarkable that, according to The Times, the TCA “did not ask about specific alternatives, routes, or environmental problems that might be caused by construction.”

In a countywide poll of 600 voters commissioned by Endangered Habitats League in February, and conducted by the same polling firm that TCA utilized, both pro and con arguments were given. With more complete information, 58% opposed construction and only 29% supported it.

Dan Silver

Coordinator

Endangered Habitats League

Los Angeles

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Your coverage of the survey commissioned by the Transportation Corridor Agencies failed to note that at the beginning of the phone survey, people surveyed were 58% in favor of the Foothill South road and 29% opposed; yet, by the time pollsters laid out arguments for and against the road, support fell to 54% and opposition rose to 39%.

The survey shows that the more people learn, the more they oppose the toll road. This toll road would adversely affect the environment by creating air and water pollution. It would also promote urban sprawl, which this area’s infrastructure cannot support, especially in light of the electricity shortage but also in terms of water and sewage.

TCA would like the public to think that the toll road extension is a done deal, but it is not. How does TCA factor into its survey the nearly 1,000 people who came to a recent scoping hearing to voice their opposition to the toll road?

How can the public trust an agency that pays San Clemente City Council members to support the road despite many of their constituents’ opposition to it? TCA should spend its money to determine the viable transportation alternatives and to study the effects on the environment.

I object that TCA is using public funds to try to show support for a project that isn’t even environmentally approved. I object to the toll road extension and want my opinion to be counted as well.

Julia Dewees

San Clemente

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You are surely aware that the manner in which a headline is printed immediately prejudices the reading public. When you state that a majority of people polled favor the extension of the Foothill toll road, you should at least qualify it.

The so-called support is dramatically lower than was reported two years ago. Secondly the sample used was pitifully small and selected by the “toll authority.”

With a proper sample size and true random sampling there would be a reliable result. I firmly believe that would show a majority opposing the toll road no matter what the route as long as it goes through the wilderness area.

Philip Glaser

Laguna Niguel

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The poll only serves to highlight a critical difference between this development agency’s campaign and that of Friends of the Foothills, a grass-roots organization opposing the road.

Where the TCA’s staunchest allies in their war against San Clemente’s quality of life are misinformation, apathy and ignorance, Friends of the Foothills believes information and education ultimately will defeat the road.

The many Friends of the Foothills volunteers who have walked our beaches or staffed information tables to inform the public about effects and losses associated with the proposed road report almost universal agreement among the people they speak with that the road is a bad idea.

Friends of the Foothills has collected thousands of signatures of South County residents opposing the Foothill South toll road and supporting clean water, green space and a livable community.

When I walked the voting precincts of San Clemente during last November’s City Council campaign, a clear majority of the hundreds of homeowners I spoke with were against the toll road. Many, however, had no opinion.

A few wanted the road because they envisioned it reducing Interstate 5 traffic. After I pointed out that the development of the road would actually inject more traffic onto our local streets and highways, among other negative effects to San Clemente’s quality of life, literally every resident I spoke with agreed the road must be stopped.

The TCA knows that honest information is poison to its plans and, apparently, to its polling results: Its 1999 poll showed 75% supported the toll road vs. 54% in this latest poll.

Steve Netherby

San Clemente