Editorial

Many may wonder why anyone would complain about charging a buck to ride a

2.5-mile stretch of the San Joaquin Hills toll road.

After all, in these times of economic boom, we barely flinch when gas

prices near $2 a gallon or when the gate fee for a day at Disneyland

edges close to $50.

But like everything else, there is a some history to this tale.

In 1993, when Newport residents learned that a stretch of Newport Coast

Drive was to be swallowed by the new San Joaquin Hills toll road, you

could practically hear the commuters screeching to a halt.

That action would force drivers to start shelling out 50 cents one way to

ride what was once a free road, dedicated to the public by Don Bren

himself.

It was not a popular decision.

Locals complained to city and county officials that drivers wouldn’t pay

the toll and instead would either stay on East Coast Highway and clog up

Corona del Mar, or take side streets through the neighborhoods on the

east side of the bay.

But their cries of protest were ignored by tollway officials.

Despite years of arguments and an unsuccessful lawsuit to stop it, the

2.5-mile stretch became part of the toll road when it opened in November

1996.

At that time, the creators of the bright, shiny new road that cut a

jagged swath through Newport Coast and Laguna Canyon beamed with pride

and optimism, claiming unrealistic expected ridership. Today 50,000

drivers, tomorrow 120,000, they boasted.

They weren’t even close.

The truth is, toll officials reached about half of that initial

projection, leaving many wondering how to keep happy the bond holders who

invested in the road .

Even Lockheed Martin, the contractor that agreed to operate the toll

booths, has cashed in its chips, as ridership on the road continues to

slump below the estimates.

So what’s the toll officials latest answer to this conundrum? Hike the

fee on Newport Coast Drive to $1 each way, placing the onus on local

commuters to make the road financially viable.

That is no way to run a toll road.

The whole reason we cut through some of the most pristine land in South

County was to relieve traffic congestion, not create a private road for

the super rich.

We need to encourage people to use the toll way, not drive them away by

charging them more to do it.

Come to think of it, a $1 fee would be the perfect solution to the toll

road woes.

But it should apply to the entire San Joaquin corridor (which is $2.25

and counting)--not just a tiny stretch in Newport Beach.

If toll road officials use that thinking, they may go a long way toward

solving their ridership problem.