Riverside County Sees Hitch in 91 Tollway Deal

Riverside County officials say they might withhold critical support for the sale of a controversial tollway to the Orange County Transportation Authority unless the agency removes a provision in the deal similar to one that has blocked improvements to the heavily congested Riverside Freeway for years.

Documents being prepared for the purchase of the 91 Express Lanes echo a non-compete agreement between Caltrans and California Private Transportation Co., owner of the toll lanes running along 10 miles of the Riverside Freeway west of the county line. Protests over that agreement fueled the sale in the first place.

The provision is designed to protect the owner’s revenue by barring the state from widening the heavily congested freeway for 30 miles, including the stretch of toll lanes. OCTA plans to continue collecting tolls until it has paid off debt taken on to buy the lanes.

Riverside County officials said the non-compete wording must be stripped from the sale agreements or neutralized before they will drop their lawsuit against Caltrans and the tollway owner. The case challenges the legality of the existing non-compete agreement and must be dismissed before the deal can proceed.

OCTA has repeatedly promised that the authority’s purchase of the Express Lanes will end the highly controversial non-compete agreement and clear the way for Orange and Riverside counties to make $1.6 billion in improvements. The $207-million deal is set to close Jan. 2.

OCTA officials Wednesday described the new problem as a minor hitch that can be easily solved. No matter what, they pointed out, non-compete clauses are banned by recent state legislation that granted OCTA the power to charge tolls.

“We are in complete agreement that all non-compete provisions be eliminated,” said OCTA General Counsel Ken Smart. “It is a matter of interpretation, and we will work it out. I don’t believe we have an issue.”

Smart said the provisions in question contain very general wording that prevents Caltrans from interfering with OCTA’s ability to collect toll revenue and retire the tollway’s debt. The wording was included to assure lenders, OCTA officials say.

Riverside County officials said they are concerned that non-compete language remains in several documents related to the sale, including drafts of a franchise agreement, terms of a 1999 Caltrans court settlement and documents related to the assumption of ownership by OCTA.

“From our point of view, the non-compete language must be stricken from the deal,” said Riverside County Supervisor Bob Buster, who also sits on the Riverside County Transportation Commission. “If it remains, you could get a whole other world of obstacles.”

The current restrictions, which would expire in 2030 if the sale does not take place, have been a source of political tension between Orange County, which originally supported the tollway, and Riverside County, whose motorists pay one of the highest tolls in the nation.

Eric Haley, executive director of the Riverside County Transportation Commission, said that all of the fine print is of concern but that both sides will work to clear up the language.

“We have come a long way and have resolved a lot of differences of opinion,” Haley said. “It would be folly to allow minor issues to create friction. All the big stuff has been done.”