Toller in S Calif offers state parks $100m to seal deal on Foothill South TR
Posted Fri, 2007-09-28 18:32
The Foothill Eastern TCA tollroad in southern California has made an offer of $100m to the California State Parks System in an effort to resolve a longstanding dispute over the routing of the final 26km (16 miles) of the Foothill CA241 tollroad. The extension often called Foothill South most of which is in Orange County will hook into I-5 just inside San Diego County. Its last several miles are located on the western edge of the large US Marine Corps Camp Pendleton reservation, co-located with a strip of land leased by the state of California from the US
Government and known misleadingly as San Onofre State Beach park - only the southern or western end unaffected by the proposed tollroad is actually beach or seafront.
The state lease expires in 2021 and under federal law it can only be renewed at fair market value - about $70m.
The FETCA board of directors today approved the $100m offer which would provide:
- $70m the state to renew the lease of the park
- $20m for construction of unfunded plans for new and improved camping facilities, restoration of historic cottages, and other improvements at the discretion of the state
- $10m for restoration of 150 acres of coastal sage scrub habitat
The offer of $100m is equal to a quarter of the annual budget of the state parks agency. FETCA chair Lance MacLean calls the offer "a historic
infusion of funds (in)to California's beaches and parks."
The route for the tollroad extension has been established for 26 years since it was placed on the Orange County masterplan in 1981. It has been through more than a decade of environmental impact reviews, but the project has met fierce opposition from local anti-roads groups.
FETCA says: "TCA and other state and federal agencies have analyzed dozens of alternatives during the 20 year environmental review process...the chosen alignment balances the needs of the traveling public, while providing the most environmentally sensitive road possible. Through years of unprecedented planning, the alignment maximizes open space and wildlife connectivity, avoids sensitive habitat areas and takes no homes or businesses. Completing the 241 tollroad will provide a freeflowing alternative to I-5, improve public safety, and reduce traffic on the I-5 freeway and city streets."
The chosen route with 3+3 lanes has six interchanges and ten wildlife underpasses, and the project cost has been put at $875m. At 96 lane-miles (154 lane-km) this is $9.1m/lane-mile ($5.7m/lane-km).Major purpose of the road is to offer improved connectivity of highways in southern Orange County and to provide an alternate to I-5.
The $100m offer will provide an interesting test of whether the antis love their "park" more than they hate automobile mobility.
TR not on the coast but that doesn't stop a "coastal commission" butting in
The toll agency offer of $100m came after a report by staff of the California Coastal Commission saying that the road is environmentally harmful. This 18 months after a Final Environmental Impact Statement has endorsed
the route. Design work was ordered to be begun in April last year.
The coastal commission has jurisdiction over a coastal strip about half a mile wide (800m) at this point and includes I-5. It claims power to block the Foothill South because the proposed tollroad joins I-5. A southbound ramp of the Foothill South joining I-5 and a merge lane is all that is added to the coastal side of I-5. Most of the tollroad is well inland.
The TCA website is urging supporters to attend a meeting of the Coastal Commission Oct 11.
see http://www.thetollroads.com/home/news_coastal_commission_meeting.htm
Public strongly supports TR
An opinion survey in 2005 estimated 69% of the residents of southern Orange County support completion of the tollroad. Opposition comes from organized groups including the Sierra Club, NRDC, parks groups and a surfer organization. The last came up with the novel idea that construction of the road through affecting stream flows into sea could diminish the Pacific Ocean surf!
The Foothill Eastern TCA is a state created joint powers agency of a bunch of Orange County cities along the route and the County.
Non-compete clause
An aside: a TCA/Caltrans cooperative agreement on the Foothill South does not prohibit extra competing capacity being built but it does commit the state to compensate the publicly owned toll road for lost toll revenue if TCA cannot meet debt service due to extra free capacity beyond that planned at the time of the agreement.
On the project see http://www.ftcsouth.com/home/index.asp
TOLLROADSnews 2007-09-28
The Foothill Eastern TCA tollroad in southern California has made an offer of $100m to the California State Parks System in an effort to resolve a longstanding dispute over the routing of the final 26km (16 miles) of the Foothill CA241 tollroad. The extension often called Foothill South most of which is in Orange County will hook into I-5 just inside San Diego County. Its last several miles are located on the western edge of the large US Marine Corps Camp Pendleton reservation, co-located with a strip of land leased by the state of California from the US Government and known misleadingly as San Onofre State Beach park - only the southern or western end unaffected by the proposed tollroad is actually beach or seafront. The state lease expires in 2021 and under federal law it can only be renewed at fair market value - about $70m.
The FETCA board of directors today approved the $100m offer which would provide:- $70m the state to renew the lease of the park
- $20m for construction of unfunded plans for new and improved camping facilities, restoration of historic cottages, and other improvements at the discretion of the state
- $10m for restoration of 150 acres of coastal sage scrub habitat
The offer of $100m is equal to a quarter of the annual budget of the state parks agency. FETCA chair Lance MacLean calls the offer "a historic
infusion of funds (in)to California's beaches and parks."The route for the tollroad extension has been established for 26 years since it was placed on the Orange County masterplan in 1981. It has been through more than a decade of environmental impact reviews, but the project has met fierce opposition from local anti-roads groups.
FETCA says: "TCA and other state and federal agencies have analyzed dozens of alternatives during the 20 year environmental review process...the chosen alignment balances the needs of the traveling public, while providing the most environmentally sensitive road possible. Through years of unprecedented planning, the alignment maximizes open space and wildlife connectivity, avoids sensitive habitat areas and takes no homes or businesses. Completing the 241 tollroad will provide a freeflowing alternative to I-5, improve public safety, and reduce traffic on the I-5 freeway and city streets."The chosen route with 3+3 lanes has six interchanges and ten wildlife underpasses, and the project cost has been put at $875m. At 96 lane-miles (154 lane-km) this is $9.1m/lane-mile ($5.7m/lane-km).Major purpose of the road is to offer improved connectivity of highways in southern Orange County and to provide an alternate to I-5.
The $100m offer will provide an interesting test of whether the antis love their "park" more than they hate automobile mobility.
TR not on the coast but that doesn't stop a "coastal commission" butting inThe toll agency offer of $100m came after a report by staff of the California Coastal Commission saying that the road is environmentally harmful. This 18 months after a Final Environmental Impact Statement has endorsed
the route. Design work was ordered to be begun in April last year. The coastal commission has jurisdiction over a coastal strip about half a mile wide (800m) at this point and includes I-5. It claims power to block the Foothill South because the proposed tollroad joins I-5. A southbound ramp of the Foothill South joining I-5 and a merge lane is all that is added to the coastal side of I-5. Most of the tollroad is well inland.
The TCA website is urging supporters to attend a meeting of the Coastal Commission Oct 11.
see http://www.thetollroads.com/home/news_coastal_commission_meeting.htm
Public strongly supports TR
An opinion survey in 2005 estimated 69% of the residents of southern Orange County support completion of the tollroad. Opposition comes from organized groups including the Sierra Club, NRDC, parks groups and a surfer organization. The last came up with the novel idea that construction of the road through affecting stream flows into sea could diminish the Pacific Ocean surf!
The Foothill Eastern TCA is a state created joint powers agency of a bunch of Orange County cities along the route and the County.
Non-compete clause
An aside: a TCA/Caltrans cooperative agreement on the Foothill South does not prohibit extra competing capacity being built but it does commit the state to compensate the publicly owned toll road for lost toll revenue if TCA cannot meet debt service due to extra free capacity beyond that planned at the time of the agreement.
On the project see http://www.ftcsouth.com/home/index.asp
TOLLROADSnews 2007-09-28