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(E-mail ALL the OCTA Board Members by clicking HERE.)
OCTA CEO Will Kempton (right), with boss when he was Caltrans Director
During a raucous standing-room only meeting in Seal Beach, Vice-Mayor Gary Miller made it clear that the City of Seal Beach would join Costa Mesa in opposing the OCTA proposal to add toll lanes to the 405 Freeway. “100% of our residents are opposed to these tolls.” Mayor Michal Levitt expressed his anger before the meeting. “Why should we have to pay for this project twice? We paid for it once with our taxes, and now they want us to pay tolls?”
At the meeting, Westminster traffic commissioner Diana Carey indicated that she expected the City of Westminster to also formally oppose tolls on the 405 Freeway, citing concerns not just with the concept of tolls, but also with the limited number of access points to the unpopular proposed Express/Toll Lanes.
As with other meetings, not a single public attendee expressed any support for the toll road proposal, while many mentioned the promises made under Measure M. Official information presented to voters used the word “freeway” over 150 times without ever mentioning “tolls”, “toll lanes”, “Express Lanes” “HOT Lanes”, or “transponders”.
Another major issue expressed repeatedly was the concern that the effectiveness of the Express Lane concept would be seriously diminished because they ended at the LA County line. OCTA representatives indicated that there was a conspiracy to add toll lanes to additional Orange County and LA County freeways, including the 605 and the 405 through Long Beach. Demonstration toll projects on the Harbor Freeway and the 10 will be evaluated in the near future for their effectiveness.
Residents in the Seal Beach neighborhood of College Park also remain adamantly opposed to demolishing and rebuilding a sound wall closer to homes along Almond Ave, an area where they contend that the freeway alignment should be moved a few feet into the cabbage fields of the Naval Weapons station or the lanes and shoulders should be slightly narrowed in this segment. Caltrans has approved similar modifications to their specifications in every other major urban area, yet OCTA seems curiously unwilling to pursue this option.
OCTA CEO Will Kempton once again alleged consistency of the toll lane concept with the promises of Measure M. Under Kempton’s rationalization, $1.3 billion in sales tax money generated by Measure M would only be spent to replace every single bridge crossing the 405 and widen the freeway. The extra $400 million to install surveillance and accounting systems to enforce the tolls and the additional cost to demolish the new Fairview bridge and widen the 405 in Costa Mesa would be paid for with bonds to be repaid by future toll income.
Once again, OCTA’s spin wasn’t well received. A flyer passed out at the Seal Beach event pointed out how notoriously inaccurate local toll road projections have been,
After 15 years, the 73 San Joaquin Toll Road has been a financial disaster, operating at just 42.5% of the projected volume. This toll road has turned into a government Ponzi scheme, unable to make bond payments, increasing its debt every year.
The 91 Express Lanes, developed by a private company, thrived because they had a 35 year agreement that prevented any competition. No new lanes to relieve traffic could be built until OCTA bought out the privateers.
The South Bay Expressway filed for bankruptcy March 22, 2010 after it became clear traffic and revenue would not support the debt incurred in building the 9 mile San Diego toll road.
Once the 405 Freeway is converted to a toll road, the ONLY guarantee is that it will never be free again. Future OCTA boards can change the tolls and rules any way they want.
The next public presentation on the toll roads will be at a July 2nd study session in Huntington Beach, where “anti-tax” Mayor Don Hansen is one of the few OCTA Directors publicly pushing for tolls on local freeways.
As a footnote, the most curious phenomenon of the night was the insistence by OCTA project manager Niall Barrett that the final decision on the project would be made by Caltrans, and that the best way of changing the project would be by submitting comments through the cumbersome EIR/EIS process. In reality, the decision on the locally preferred alternative will be made by the 16 (currently) voting members of the OCTA Board of directors long before the EIR process is completed. Since OCTA is providing 100% of the funding for the project, as well as floating any toll road bonds, Caltrans approval will be over the details of the plans, not the alternative chosen
Our Coverage Thus Far:
- “Lexus Lanes” on the 405? Help Stop the Latest Toll Road Outrage!
- Perfect Circularity: A 405 Toll Lane for the Sole Purpose of Funding a 405 Toll Lane?
- OCTA’s Will Kempton to Betray OC Voters?
- Proposal Unites Enemies in Costa Mesa, against HB Mayor Don Hansen.
- 405 Toll-Gate For Dummies: How the proposed toll lanes are illegal.
- My Modest Proposal to build “Expensiveways” on the 405
- A Taxpayer Bailout for the Failed 73 San Joaquin Hills Toll Road?
- Seal Beach and Westminster to Join Costa Mesa in opposing 405 tolls
- OCTA expects BILLIONS in revenue from 405 Tolls!
- 405 Toll Projection – $2.95 for Three Miles!
- Cooking the Books with Two VERY different sets of numbers…
- How We Can Defeat the 405 Toll Lanes! And … Meet Your OCTA Board!
- Huntington Beach Mayor Hansen Rebuffed by his own City Council
AND NOW, somebody has created the excellent…
No 405 Tolls.Com!
E-mail ALL the OCTA Board Members by clicking HERE.
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Is there any discussion (or even ackowledgment) of the Robin Marcario “Alternative 4”?
If this generates a lot of money, does it create some sort if slush fund for Mayors? What happens to the proceeds — how are rhey to be monitored?
In a previous meeting, the Marcario alternative was dismissed by officials, saying their studies or “algorithms” showed that two carpool lanes would be under-utilized. And maybe that’s true in the near future; I hope that it’s not too expensive to move to two carpool lanes with continuous access (Marcario) a few years down the road, once people start appreciating saving $10 gallon gas.
I have the feeling at least OCTA members Pulido and Amante are salivating over the possibilities of another pot of money to play with. They’re the kind of pols – R or D, not conservative, not progressive or populist – that I would call the “lotsa free lunches” pols.
They wouldn’t be underutilized if the “carpool” limitation were only during rush hours. And one could titrate those hours to make sure that they’re not underused. Are these people dense?
Yeah, this whole thing just screams out “slush machine to fill up the slush fund.”
Oh, and people last night WERE talking about 4 alternatives – the 4th being “DO NOTHING.” It’s tempting especially for old Seal Beach folk who don’t like change and may not see another decade. I don’t think that will happen though. $1.3 billion is already there and allocated, OC drivers want a wider highway, and OCTA and their pals are dying to build SOMETHING at least!
OCTA refuses to discuss any additional alternatives, including the idea that the Express Lanes would be open to vehicle with 2 passengers ( this would crowd out too many single passenger vehicles paying tolls), 2 carpool lanes ( this would result in the lanes being underutilized) or carpool restrictions during peak hours only ( never discussed).
According to OCTA’s representatives, these ideas were considered and rejected earlier in the process.
The phony outreach effort is designed to sell the Express / toll lane proposal.
Here’s what this is starting to sound like to me:
Whoever is putting together the legal team to pummel that argument into a pulp in front of a judge, I’d like to be part of it.
really – what process? The whole thing is a pre-determined scam to tax, tax, tax. Federal and state gas taxes. Check. Local measure tax. Check. toll road with no sunset in sight. Check.
Enough of this hiding the ball. Abolish OCTA as it exists and call for direct election of membership by the citizens, not some secret society of insiders.
Time to open up the overcrowded freeways with a blast from the past.
In 1973 to deal with a gas shortage, it was decreed, odd or even to buy gas.
So I say that Monday thu Saturday the 405 and the 5 and other overcrowded freeways be switched to the 1973 odd or even use.
Where is Fountain Valley on this? We know Hansen controls HB and they will likely stay silent. That just leaves FV.
I aim to find out about FV soon – today or this week at least. Larry Crandall – FV councilman – is FV’s rep. Gotta go down to FV City Hall right now to renew the Orange Juice’s business license – he might be there! Or I’ll leave him a message.
Hansen does not control Huntington Beach. He IS currently a vote for toll roads, but if he’s as smart and politically ambitious as he seems to be, he’ll find himself a way to back out of it. July 16 will be the HB Council vote, and I’m predicting a 6-1 result with (non-binding) request that Hansen vote against Alt 3.
let’s hope for $10 gas. either way it gets people off the highways and byways and gets me down to the coast and behind my guarded gate faster and with less annoyance from the proletariat
And who is it that’s guarding your gate, willie?
No, let Willie do his aristocrat shtick – he fills an important function on this progressive blog.
Ha ha – now Costa Mesa is threatening to sue over this. We know how they love to keep their Barrett-Jackson lawyers busy and well-fed. This time they’d be right anyway. And maybe they’ll make enough money to pay back Debbie Tharp for throwing her in jail for petitioning.
From the Daily Pilot who generally doesn’t credit us, but what paper does…
http://articles.dailypilot.com/2012-06-26/news/tn-dpt-0627-challenge-20120626_1_toll-lanes-octa-toll-road
“The city of Costa Mesa is considering legal options to stop the Orange County Transportation Authority from adding toll lanes inside the city limits.
“‘I’ve been trying to tell OCTA it’s not acceptable to Costa Mesa for many, many reasons,” said Peter Naghavi, the city’s economic development director. “All options, including legal action, are on the table.”
“Last week the City Council told City Attorney Tom Duarte to investigate legal challenges to an option known as Alternative 3, which would expand sections of the San Diego (405) Freeway.
“The council also directed Duarte to reach out to other Orange County cities that may want to join the fight. [Hey, I know a few! – V]
“While the city explores its legal options, Costa Mesa’s engineers are reviewing OCTA’s draft environmental impact report and will submit their criticisms of it before the July 17 deadline, said Public Services Director Ernesto Munoz.
“Opponents to Alternative 3, the only of OCTA’s three 405 construction proposals that would add toll lanes, are discussing two routes to take. The other proposals add either one or two general-purpose lanes.
“Critics also are expected to challenge the EIR. Their arguments could range from the report’s conclusions on how the project will impact cities and residents along the 405 between the Corona del Mar (73) and San Gabriel (605) freeways to its traffic flow data.
“The other avenue is to challenge the entire concept of a toll lane with what officials like Munoz and Naghavi call “double-dipping.” They argue the freeway’s expansion is funded by Measure M2, money generated from a half-cent sales tax that county voters approved in 2006.
“‘It’s inaccurate for people to say they’re not getting what was promised to them in Measure M,” said OCTA spokesman Joel Zlotnik, noting that Alternative 3 is projected to serve more vehicles per hour than the other two, though Alternative 2 actually makes it a faster drive between the 73 and 605 for non-toll road users.
“The $1.3 billion in Measure M2 money is only enough for one lane between the 605 and Euclid Street in Fountain Valley, he said…”
HM… Do these folks read the Orange Juice or what?
[Hat-tip to Tharpy, who’s out there getting signatures again, but ran across a dead-tree copy of the Pilot.]
a retired orange county sheriff supplementing his meager pension
thankyou sir
Just think, if the owners of the highways (Fed’s for the interstate & state for the in state HI ways) charged FMV for use of their roads, The federal and state deficits would go away.
Auto use and greenhouse gases would decrease, that would cause the price of gas to decrease too.
That would cause the decreased costs all around, and then there would be plenty of money to take care of quality public mass transit.
And the rich could still have their personal cars, but no longer would the poor and the non-auto owners be subsidizing their FREE RIDE.
*Just go find Robert Poole (The Reason Foundation)….and make him testify in front of the OCTA and the OC Board of Supervisors. If they doesn’t inflame everyone in 10 states against Toll Roads nothing will. Poole is the brains behind Toll Roads….look for him and you will find out how to stop the whole thing
Poole was the guy that wanted everyone have a Toll Sensor in their cars, trucks and commercial vehicles and make people pay a toll from the time they started driving someplace…until they quit at night. He still wants people to pay to go across city and county borders……and pay double during “Command Pricing”…..you know “Rush Hours!”.
Why are people even considering tolls when we know for a fact they don’t work. SR 73 isn’t making enough money, so they got an additional 10 years of tolling from us. Talk about bait and switch.
TCA and OCTA – same thing: abolish both and call for direct elections and transparency in spending our tax dollars! No more deals for cofiroute and the rest of the leaches who “consult” and “manage” and “lobby”. Transparency NOW!
i love the 73, it’s uncrowded and i can get down to olemende’s in then minutes, have a burrito while watching the ocean and sitting next to a picture of richard nixon. talk about your perfect afternoon