Tollway Agencies’ Bid to Skirt Rules Is Shameful

Re “Activists Decry Plan to Bypass Tollway Rules,” July 12:

The attempt by the Transportation Corridor Agencies to exempt itself from all California laws is unprecedented and dangerous. This stealth move, attached as a “rider” to a federal military bill, would place the proposed southern extension of the Foothill toll road literally above the law.

Whatever one thinks of this controversial project, exempting it from the California Coastal Act, our water quality, public health and safety regulations, the California Environmental Quality Act, and the California Endangered Species Act bespeaks a remarkable disregard for due process and public participation.

When the ruin of popular San Onofre Beach State Park is at stake, the TCA should have more respect for the public than this shameful ploy suggests. For the TCA, the end apparently justifies the means. TCA board members should rein in this out-of-control bureaucracy.

Ray Chandos

Trabuco Canyon

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There is language in a military appropriations bill before Congress that would exempt the proposed Foothill South toll road from regulatory oversight by the Coastal Commission or any laws that might affect roads through state parks.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein needs to help protect Camp Pendleton and our state park from the financially risky and environmentally damaging toll road. This legislation would harm Camp Pendleton’s training mission in order to build a toll road that the TCA doesn’t even know it can afford.

Camp Pendleton is endangered by urban encroachment, a problem that the Foothill South toll road would only make worse. In fact, the Marines are only reluctantly agreeing to study the route that would affect San Onofre State Beach. They would prefer the road not be built through the park or the base.

TCA always prides itself on fulfilling requirements of environmental law. If that’s the case, why are they seeking this special exemption from all California law? Aren’t we all equal under the law or is this just more special treatment for the privileged few?

Julia Dewees

San Clemente

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Re “Tollway Trial at a Dead End in California,” July 7:

The fundamental question that the article fails to answer is who will pay for new roads to keep pace with a soaring population? If the choice is between privately financed tollways, where users pay their own way, or new roads, where all taxpayers bear the burden of higher gas-tax rates, then the choice is obvious.

Rafael Shinn

Brea

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I would like to commend you for your coverage of the toll road controversy. To this reader, your coverage has been balanced and frequent enough so the issue does not get resolved without public awareness.

I don’t understand why those traversing specific routes should be the only ones paying for road service. If we charge for using some routes, then we should charge for all similar routes. If the state makes some revenue, that’s OK in lieu of taxes.

Obviously, this may be fair but it is contrary to what would be accepted by voters and probably not in the best interests of any of us. The conclusion I draw is that toll roads should not be an option for California.

Dick Gabriel

San Clemente

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Wow, I’m always amazed at how short the Los Angeles Times’ memory is. Back in the 1980s when there was no money to build highways, the state formed the TCA joint powers authorities to obtain private financing to build desperately needed roads the state couldn’t and wouldn’t provide.

My quality of life in San Clemente dramatically improved the day the San Joaquin Hills toll road opened in 1996 and my husband no longer had to spend close to two hours each way grinding through the El Toro Y commuting to Costa Mesa. I can’t wait for Foothill South to open to take the pressure off Interstate 5 through my beach community.

This so-called “failed experiment” of three TCA toll roads has 200,000-plus daily riders paying for a better ride than they can get on the freeways. Don’t confuse issues of bond financing with market success.

Donna Carter

San Clemente

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For those of us living in crowded south Orange County, a proposal to place a tollway down the middle of the San Onofre State Beach campground has been a continuing nightmare.

The toll road arrangement may be threatened, but undoubtedly interests wishing to carpet the pristine countryside of inland south Orange County will exert pressure on the Legislature to approve some sort of highway through land that was designated as open space and habitat to myriad birds and wildlife.

Californians now understand that promises of reduced traffic congestion are merely the blandishments of developers who will ensure the return of congestion to each new highway, by surrounding it with densely packed housing on postage stamp-sized lots. Highways are the ventricles feeding overdevelopment. Better solutions to our transportation needs can and should be developed.

Gary E. Miller

Laguna Niguel

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Re “O.C. Toll-Road Boards Move Closer to Merger,” June 6:

In actuality, the extension of the Foothill South will create another El Toro Y problem that will be in our backyards and will not solve traffic problems.

What the Transportation Corridor Agencies and Chairman Scott Diehl are pushing will mean more congestion on the southbound Interstate 5 in San Clemente. The northbound Interstate 5 is no problem, but southbound traffic is not going to get any better regardless of what the TCA and San Clemente City Hall bunch have to say.

What the pundits failed to address in their shiny information sheet is that the TCA has overstated traffic demand while grossly understating financial resources needed to pay for the Foothill South. Pouring more and more concrete does not solve the capacity problem envisioned by the TCA and San Clemente City Hall.

Ann Burke

San Clemente