Toll road foes apply pressure

More than two dozen members of California’s congressional delegation have sent a letter urging the secretary of Commerce to uphold the state Coastal Commission’s veto of a controversial toll road proposal in southern Orange County.

The letter, sent this week from Rep. Susan Davis (D-San Diego) and signed by other members of Congress, also urged Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez to hold a hearing in California to assess public opinion on the appeal by the Irvine-based Transportation Corridor Agencies.

The signers cited the Coastal Commission’s staff report that stated, “It would be difficult to imagine a more environmentally damaging alternative location for the proposed toll road.”

At an estimated cost of $875 million, the proposed Foothill South would be the final link in Orange County’s network of toll roads. It would run 16 miles from Oso Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita to Interstate 5 at Basilone Road, south of San Clemente.

Although opponents say it would destroy a popular state park and famed surfing site, proponents say the road is needed to help alleviate congestion on the I-5 and other thoroughfares in southern Orange County.

Those who signed the letter include Sen. Barbara Boxer and congressional leaders Maxine Waters, Xavier Becerra, Henry Waxman, Howard Berman and Jane Harman. Most are Democrats from Los Angeles and other counties; none were from Orange County.

“We did not ask California Republicans [to sign the letter] because we assumed they would not be interested, especially if they tried to help the TCA,” said Aaron Hunter, Davis’ spokesman.

Jennifer Seaton, a TCA spokeswoman, said the letter’s contents didn’t surprise her after she was told it was sent from Davis’ office.

In January, Davis succeeded with an amendment to the military authorization bill that weakened the TCA’s effort because it would require the agency to follow potentially restrictive state environmental laws. Davis’ amendment took away the TCA’s ability to legally argue that state law would not apply on federal property. The proposed road cuts through Camp Pendleton land.

“It’s significant that not one legislator in the immediate project area signed that letter because we do have strong support among local legislators,” Seaton said.

Meanwhile, the TCA asked the Army Corps of Engineers to correct a letter the corps sent to Gutierrez accusing the TCA of making false and misleading statements in its appeal.

The letter contained “serious misstatements” concerning the TCA’s environmental process, said Thomas Margro, TCA’s chief executive. Margro sent the letter to the corps Tuesday.

Col. Thomas H. Magness IV, the corps’ district director in Los Angeles, had not yet received the letter.

david.reyes@latimes.com