New Toll Roads Can Widen a Safety Gap

The latest solution proposed for California’s traffic congestion is toll roads. We cannot seem to find the money or the political will to build new roads. In an apparent admission of the intractability of this problem, we have decided to punt: We’ll just turn the issue over to private industry.

The private sector is inherently more efficient than government in most endeavors, including road building and maintenance. But will these toll roads really serve our needs?

Proponents argue that toll roads create benefits for users and nonusers alike. Drivers who choose to pay the toll enjoy a faster trip. Those who choose not to use the toll road benefit by the fact that the toll road has siphoned away some traffic, resulting in a less congested drive for these motorists. It’s win-win.

Not so fast, literally. First, any increased road capacity will attract new drivers. It’s well established that new lanes quickly fill up as drivers who had previously forsaken a given road are drawn back by the promise of a faster trip. Thus the benefits to users of the toll road and free road may be short-lived.

It’s true that the toll road operator can fine-tune traffic levels by varying the tolls, but every increase in the toll will drive more cars back to the free roads, resulting in less of a benefit to those road users.

Further, all roads are not created equal. Take, for example, the high desert corridor served by Highway 138 -- the Pearblossom Highway. This two-lane undivided road serves as a major artery for the increasing population of the high desert as well as the thousands of vacationers heading to Las Vegas and other destinations. It is a prime candidate for a bypass toll road. The surrounding land is relatively cheap, there’s ample room for a new highway, and many potential users would view a toll of $5 to $10 as money well spent for a speedier, safer trip to Las Vegas.

But where would this leave the drivers on the Pearblossom? True, their trips would be no worse than before, but do we really want a two-tier level of highway service? It’s one thing to pay a few bucks for a quicker trip, but what about the inevitable difference in safety?

The new tollway would be a modern highway with limited access, a raised median and ample sight lines. The free road would remain a narrow route with nonexistent shoulders and a continuing high risk of head-on collisions. New toll roads, especially those that supplement older highways, will serve to increase the divide between the haves and have-nots.

Toll lanes added to existing highways as part of upgrades serve a valuable purpose. But financing entirely new roads via tolls fails to address the needs of all Californians.

Kevin Grant lives in Stevenson Ranch.