Tollways Put Strife in the Fast Lane

Re “Parts of O.C. Toll Roads Threaten Water Quality,” Oct. 16:

California taxpayers are being taken to the cleaners by the toll roads. We are paying for them in multiple ways, whether we use them or not.

Caltrans owns the toll road right of way; therefore, we paid for that right of way (taxes). We pay Caltrans to maintain the toll roads, again, through our taxes. We pay Caltrans to fix or replace faulty storm drains along the toll road through our taxes (the last figure was $13.3 million). We pay the Highway Patrol to patrol the toll roads, through our taxes. We pay a toll should we choose to use these roads. Because of the noncompetition agreement signed with Caltrans in 1993, we will have to pay the Transportation Corridor Agencies to have the privilege of fixing up the freeways, to better serve us.

In short, to make needed improvements to the Santa Ana Freeway to relieve traffic congestion and bottlenecks, Caltrans would be contractually obligated to compensate the TCA for this privilege because of potential lost revenue. I’d call this engineered traffic congestion with a purpose. That purpose is to get commuters so frustrated with the inadequacies of our freeways, that we will use the toll roads. Revenue for TCA, ca-chink!

Stephanie M. Dorey

San Clemente

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Re “Toll Road Raising Rates Again to Cut Use,” Oct. 20:

One of the touted benefits of the toll roads was a reduction of drive times on South County highways due to projected traffic volume pulled off the freeways. But the toll roads have failed to perform because, from the start, the TCA brain trust can’t grasp an essential principle of the free market: People won’t pay when a viable alternative is free.

Let’s get TCA’s profit motive out of public policy debates. Cash the TCA out of South County, declare the Foothill/Eastern tollways “free,” and move toward the more balanced transportation plans we need for the 21st century.

Pete Van Nuys

San Clemente

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The announcement by the general manager of the 91 Express Lanes of yet another rate increase clearly belies the claim that toll roads will reduce congestion. He explained the reason for the rate hike was to force motorists out of the pay lanes onto the already heavily congested Riverside Freeway because traffic on the toll lanes has slowed to below 65 mph, creating complaints from customers.

This comes just one week after Gov. Davis vetoed AB 1091, the bill that would have banned noncompetition agreements between toll road operators and Caltrans that prohibit traffic relief improvements in the area of the toll roads for the next 20 years. Currently there are noncompetition agreements in effect for the 91 Express Lanes and the TCA-built San Joaquin Hills and Foothill/Eastern toll roads, and planned for the Foothill South if the TCA can overcome the environmental problems.

Unlike Caltrans, whose main goal is to reduce congestion, the main goal of a toll road operator is to pay back the bondholders. They can do this only by raising tolls and guaranteeing ridership by restricting the ability of the competing freeways to expand. If the Foothill South is built, we can expect the same result, with a hopelessly congested Santa Ana Freeway and a smoothly flowing 65-mph toll road for those who can continue to afford the rate hikes.

William C. Holmes

Dana Point