"We hope the TCA will stop using scare tactics and join us in the search for accuracy."
Tollway officials say that Smart Mobility's work is so superficial and inaccurate it cannot support the finding that improving the I-5 is a better alternative than the Foothill South project.
In addition to the miscalculation of highway widths, tollway officials question the proposed interchange designs, the narrowing of major frontage roads to make way for new highway lanes, and condemnation costs that were calculated using the assessed value for properties rather than fair market value as required.
"The Smart Mobility study is seriously flawed," said Paul A. Bopp, the engineering manager for the Foothill South project. "We've never heard of these guys. They aren't licensed in California. They don't know the area. They lack local experience. Their work looks like someone just drew highway designs on a Google Earth map."
The TCA, which operates more than 50 miles of tollways in Orange County, contends that 898 homes and 339 businesses would have to be condemned and about 2,208 people and 4,000 jobs would be displaced to improve Interstate 5.
Construction costs would hit at least $2 billion, more than double the estimated cost of the tollway, according to the agency.
Those findings, TCA officials say, are backed up by two decades of research and a $20-million environmental analysis of the Foothill South project.
Overall, TCA records show that more than 40 alternatives were considered by local, state and federal agencies -- eight of which made it to final review.
"There's no engineering behind the Smart Mobility study that we can see," said Thomas E. Margro, the TCA's chief executive.
"They've gone at this with a broad brush and haven't provided a lot of detail to show the 5 is a feasible solution."
Whether there is an alternative to the tollway is a central issue in the legal and regulatory battles surrounding the Foothill South, which would divide the northern half of San Onofre lengthwise, threatening wildlife habitat, watersheds and recreational resources.
Toll road opponents allege in pending lawsuits that the TCA failed to thoroughly consider alternatives to the tollway in its environmental impact reports, a potential violation of the California Environmental Quality Act.
Also, federal and state approvals are contingent upon a complete evaluation of alternatives.
