Transportation officials hang on to tollway plan

Frustrated environmentalists and others said this week that the Orange County Transportation Authority's reluctance to change its assumption that the Foothill South tollway through San Onofre State Beach will be built amounts to "putting their head in the sand."

"For purely political reasons, the Transportation Authority doesn't seem to want to evaluate future transportation ideas with realistic options," said Michael Fitts, an attorney for the Endangered Habitats League.

Fitts made his comments after a meeting on a major investment study for transportation projects through 2030 in south Orange County. He and others took exception to the OCTA's stand on the toll road, which was defeated by the California Coastal Commission last month but is included in the authority's long-range planning.

The authority operates the toll lanes along the 91 Freeway and is the county's largest transportation agency. The Irvine-based Transportation Corridor Agencies, operator of the other Orange County toll roads, proposed the controversial Foothill South route.

Opponents of that toll road also are angry about an idea to lower tolls by half on the 241, 73 and 133 to encourage more motorists; the reduced rate would be subsidized with taxpayer dollars. The OCTA has included the so-called shadow tolls as part of the study ideas.

Many options to help unsnarl traffic and upgrade transit and other services are under consideration, OCTA officials said. The study won't be finished until fall, and many ideas being discussed won't be in the final document, officials said.

When the toll roads were built, the TCA said no taxpayer money would be used to operate them, Fitts said. But the term "shadow tolls" seems to be a euphemism for "taxpayer-supported toll road," he said.

The toll roads are privately operated and have accepted small grants from public funds, said Jennifer Seaton, a TCA spokeswoman. She rejected the assertion that a pledge not to use taxpayer funds was ever made.

OCTA Chairman Chris Norby said board members have had frank discussions about the fate of the proposed toll road, especially if it is ultimately killed. "But it's on appeal and we're still going on the assumption that the road has to be in the planning," he said.

The 16-mile toll road, whose proposed route would go from Oso Parkway east of Mission Viejo through San Onofre State Beach, has been the subject of intense political debate. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has supported the road, last week did not renew the terms of actor-director Clint Eastwood and Bobby Shriver, the governor's brother-in-law, to the state parks commission.

Both attributed the governor's move to their opposition to building the Foothill South through the state beach park. The governor's office denied that assertion.

Orange County Supervisor Patricia Bates, whose district includes the proposed road, said the road debate is not over.

"Until some decision is made on the appeal that the road is dead, this will be part of the 2030 baseline for transportation projects," she said.

david.reyes@latimes.com