Toll Roads

In a break for thousands of Inland Empire commuters, operators of Orange County's public toll roads on Wednesday killed a proposed fare increase for motorists who use transponders issued by other turnpikes. The operations and finance committee of the Transportation Corridor Agencies voted unanimously to scrap a proposed 50-cent rate increase next year for FasTrak customers from other tollways, such as the 91 Express Lanes and the I-15 toll lanes in San Diego County.

Re "Toll Road Miscalculations," Sept. 12 editorial: The Times could not be more wrong about the toll roads. Hundreds of thousands of motorists just like me are making the choice to use the toll roads every day. I work in outside sales, and my territory is South County, so I use the toll roads constantly. The toll roads allow me to be far more productive, and my clients benefit from my using the roads. The toll roads give me more time at the end of the day to enjoy all the benefits of living in Orange County.

Re "State's future may be paved with fees," Feb. 13 I was appalled to read the article about the toll roads coming to California. Letting private firms make a profit off of California roads? Now that just sits wrong. The roads in California should be accessible to all drivers, and the cost of the roads paid for by all drivers. The cost of driving on California roads should not include lining shareholders' pockets with a profit. However, in the case of a road/tunnel for truckers to get their goods inland, a toll road is a fine idea.

The Budget and Finance Committee of the Transportation Corridor Agencies, which oversee the development of Orange County's quasi-public toll roads, has been busy of late. Twice in the past month it has turned down proposals to increase salary ranges for top executives. Last week, the proposed increases were tabled by the TCA board. Don't expect this issue to go away.

As the toll road authority prepares to open its latest stretch, the Eastern Toll Road, I once again will state that all of this will be a total, dismal failure, one that will fall flat on its face. We taxpayers will have to surgically repair this farce by buying out, at the best price we can get, those individuals who sponsored the bond issue. The federal government gives away our land to those who rape our beautiful forests, lakes and rivers. I still am puzzled as to who authorized the giveaway of our very beautiful countryside to these people so they could ruin our land with their toll roads.

You can hang any number of shiny baubles on a mistake, like ornaments on a Christmas tree, but when you're done, all you've really got is a bad idea -- with glitter. Congestion pricing is just that sort of bad idea.

For years there has been tremendous conflict between advocates and opponents of whether or not to build the controversial San Joaquin Hills Freeway. In the past, the county supervisors and Transportation Commission have been evaluating various options (with no success) to finance three new freeways. Apparently the road planners have finally discovered the secret weapon (toll road) to solve their dilemma with the aid of Assemblyman Nolan Frizzelle, who has been applying pressure on the state Legislature to approve his toll-road bill for Orange County.

The City Council tonight will consider granting the county authorization to build a toll road bypass that council members say they oppose but previously approved under threat of losing millions of dollars in road improvement funds. The bypass is intended to provide a toll-free route around the 1.5-mile section of Newport Coast Drive that will become part of the San Joaquin Hills toll road.

I'm not an expert on regional transportation or the environment. That puts me in the same camp as most of you, I'd bet, but it doesn't mean we can't gnash our teeth over the recurring Southern California clash between concrete and trees. We accept that Orange County developers carved our civilization of 3 million people out of some of the most beautiful topography to be found. We can also lament what we lost by doing so. I'm not going to rehash that trade-off today.