Example: In Orange County, to close a deal with a company called California Private Transportation, the state agreed not to make any improvements to public roads within a mile and a half of the company's toll lanes on the 91 Freeway. Congestion in the public lanes grew intolerable, and the state ultimately bought the toll lanes for $207 million.
Meanwhile, a private toll road long ago authorized and finally scheduled to open in San Diego County this summer has been beset by lawsuits and cost overruns. The project's final price tag -- $683 million -- is 70% higher than planners estimated.
The project initially called for the state to take control of the road after 35 years. Lawmakers last year scaled that back to 45 years so that the private company building it will be able to recoup its money by collecting tolls for an extra decade.
Officials in the governor's office say such setbacks are minor bumps in the road.
"We have learned a lot of lessons" from California's existing toll roads, said Sean Walsh, a senior policy advisor to the governor, "as have the rest of the country and the world."
But, he added, "people who keep going back and looking at them as an example of something that is wrong ignore the fact that it is a model now being used successfully around the world."
Indeed, several states are looking to private companies to take over their roads or build new ones. Indiana has turned over its 157-mile-long turnpike, known in the Midwest as the "Main Street of America," to a consortium of foreign investors. Illinois negotiated a similar deal with its Chicago Skyway. New Jersey and Pennsylvania are exploring similar deals with their famed turnpikes.
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Feeding a port
Texas, where virtually every major road currently being built will have tolls, is looking to the private sector to construct a 4,000-mile network of car and truck toll lanes that would feed into a port. The project, economists say, would position Texas to compete with California as the entry point for goods shipped from Asia, especially if the 710 Freeway continues to deteriorate.
In all, 21 states have passed laws encouraging public-private road-building partnerships. Many are making the move at the urging of the federal government, which provides financial incentives for involving the private sector.
California's Legislature has stopped short of giving local transportation agencies broad authority to cut deals with private road builders, as other states have. Some planning experts and economists are encouraging them to step things up.
