Foothill Toll Road Panel OKs Plan to Widen Bottleneck

A proposal to add a lane to the northbound Foothill toll road in South County to help relieve congestion during peak hours was recommended Wednesday by a key tollway committee.

Directors for the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency, who met as part of a finance committee, unanimously recommended Ortiz Enterprises as the contractor for the $12.8-million project. The recommendation goes to the full board next Thursday.

The area to be widened is a four-mile stretch of the 241 between Santa Margarita and Bake parkways, which toll road officials say is a bottleneck in the mornings and afternoons. If approved by the board, construction is scheduled to begin in June with completion planned by fall 2003.

Unlike the San Joaquin toll road, which is losing money and whose ridership is far behind projections, the Foothill toll road is profitable, with a ridership that exceeds projections, tollway officials said.

“During peak hours for the northbound lanes, we get about 4,600 cars or trips,” said Clare Climaco, a TCA spokeswoman.

The toll road handles traffic from several south Orange County communities, including Lake Forest, Coto de Caza, Portola Hills and Mission Viejo.

Last week, San Joaquin Hills toll road directors authorized a merger with the Foothill corridor because traffic and revenue have fallen far short of projections along the 15-mile tollway, which stretches from Newport Beach to San Juan Capistrano. Foothill directors are expected to take up the merger proposal next month.

The toll road network is operated by the TCA, a joint powers authority based in Irvine. The San Joaquin Hills, Foothill and Eastern tollways and a short stretch of California 133 constitute the system.