HISTORICAL TIMELINE: FOOTHILL- SOUTH

Foothill-South, the proposed southern extension of the 241 Toll Road to the I-5 near San Clemente, has been subject to planning efforts for more than 20 years by a wide range of local, regional, state, and federal agencies. Foothill-South is the final segment of a public toll-road system that consists of the 241, 261, 133, and 73 Toll Roads, which were envisioned in the early 1980s as free state highways. Today, the 51-mile public toll road system operated by the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) is the largest network of toll roads in California.

1981 The Foothill (State Route 241) Transportation Corridor is added to the county's Master Plan of Arterial Highways. Local elected officials and county transportation planners begin to study alternative ways to fund road improvements as state and federal funds for transportation projects begin to decline as a result of more fuel-efficient cars and reduced gas-tax revenues.
   
1986 The Foothill/Eastern and San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agencies, joint powers government agencies, are formed to plan, design, finance and construct a 67-mile public toll road system in Orange County. The Foothill/Eastern Agency now operates the 241, 261, and 133 Toll Roads and is the lead agency responsible for the completion of the 241 Toll Road, a project known as Foothill-South.

Also in 1986, the County of Orange and TCA completed a study called the Foothill Transportation Corridor Alternatives Alignment Analysis, which identified four alternative alignments to be evaluated in an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
   
1987 State law SB-1413 permits TCA to build the identified corridors as toll facilities, providing that tolls would be collected only until the bond debt issued to finance construction was repaid.
   
1988 Caltrans agrees to maintain The Toll Roads and accept liability from the day the roads open to traffic, eliminating the need for TCA to seek alternative funding sources for road maintenance.
   
1989 ~ 1991

TCA prepares an EIR for the selection of a locally preferred alignment for Foothill-South. The report addressed the potential impacts of two toll road alignments, called the C and BX Alignments, and a No Build Alternative under which no road would be built. The C Alignment was located east of San Clemente and connected to the I-5 Freeway at Cristianitos Road, while the BX Alignment Avenida Pico. The No Build Alternative evaluated the potential impacts to traffic and the environment if no road were built.

The EIR was circulated for public review and public hearings were held in 1991. A supplemental report addressed changes to the C Alignment to move the alignment away from San Clemente homes along the San Diego County line, and the modified alignment became known as the Modified C alignment.

During this time, TCA started an ongoing process to obtain input from local, state, and federal agencies that will ultimately issue permits for the project. The following local, state, and federal agencies and organizations are responsible for providing input throughout the environmental process:

  • Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
  • Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA)
  • Caltrans District 11 (San Diego) and District 12 (Orange Co.)
  • Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE)
  • California Coastal Commission
  • County of Orange
  • Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)
  • San Diego Association of Governments
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
  • California Department of Fish and Game
  • California Department of Parks and Recreation
  • City of San Clemente
  • City of San Juan Capistrano
  • City of Mission Viejo
  • Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA)
   
October 1991 The Foothill/Eastern Board of Directors selects the Modified C Alignment as the locally preferred alternative and certifies the Environmental Impact Report. After the Board's decision, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service slightly modified the selected alignment to minimize impacts to the Pacific pocket mouse and to address residents' concerns about noise and visual impacts. The alignment is renamed the CP Alignment.
   
1993 TCA begins to prepare the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) required by federal environmental laws to evaluate the CP Alignment, the BX Alignment and the No Build Alternative.
   
October 1993 The first 3.2-mile segment of the Foothill (241) Toll Road opens to traffic near Lake Forest.
   
1994 to 1996 In August and September, TCA holds public scoping meetings in San Clemente and Oceanside to get input on issues to be studied in the EIS/SEIR.

In 1994, TCA entered into a settlement agreement with the San Clementeans Against Tollroads, Inc. and Defenders of Wildlife, two non-profit corporations. The agreement identified methodologies and approaches to be used for various sections of the EIS/SEIR including air quality, traffic, parklands and resource lands, wetlands, general habitat issues, endangered species, and water resources (surface and ground water).

In 1994, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Clean Water Act Section 404 Integration Process Memorandum of Understanding (NEPA/Section 404 MOU) set forth new policies that affect the Foothill-South planning process. The MOU policies are intended to streamline the environmental planning process and improve inter-agency coordination for projects that need FHWA action under NEPA and a Section 404 permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. The signatory agencies to the MOU include the Federal Highway Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Marine Corps Camp Pendleton, and Caltrans.
   
March 1999 After 28 months, the Collaborative approves the purpose and need statement for Foothill-South, the required first step in a new environmental streamlining process outlined in the NEPA/Section 404 MOU. In order to comply with the 1994 MOU, TCA restarts the environmental process by coordinating with the signatory agencies to the MOU for evaluation of the EIS/SEIR. TCA along with the signatory agencies -- Federal Highway Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Caltrans, and Marine Corps Camp Pendleton, as a cooperating agency -- are known as the Collaborative.
   
August 1999 The Collaborative moves the environmental process forward by developing a list of project alternatives to be evaluated in the EIS/SEIR. The Collaborative is made up of representatives of each agency and led by a neutral, objective facilitator. During this process, the Foothill-South project is known as the South Orange County Transportation Infrastructure Improvement Project (SOCTIIP).
   
November 2000 The Collaborative concurs on six main project alternatives to be evaluated in the EIR/SEIR -- three toll-road alignments, with numerous variations, and three nontoll road alternatives the widening of the I-5 Freeway, the widening of major arterial roads in south county, and a no project alternative. Selecting the alternatives is a required step of the NEPA/Section 404 MOU. TCA begins conducting technical studies of potential impacts of all project alternatives for 20 different subject areas, such as land-use planning, air quality, traffic, water runoff, and biological (wildlife) resources. In November, the FHWA holds a public meeting in San Clemente to announce the project alternatives to be analyzed in the draft EIS/SEIR. The Collaborative meets regularly throughout the environmental process, and continues to meet today, in order to improve coordination among the various agencies as the technical studies and Draft EIS/SEIR are developed.
   
March 2001 Public scoping meetings are held in San Clemente, Rancho Santa Margarita, and Oceanside to obtain public input on issues related to the six project alternatives that should be evaluated in the Draft EIS/SEIR.
   
June 2001 TCA sends the Notice of Preparation to 4,000 residents and businesses within 200 feet of all alternatives, a document describing the alternatives, and the potential impact subjects that will be studied in the Draft EIS/SEIR.
   
May 2004 The Draft EIS/SEIR is released for public review in May. TCA sends the Notice of Availability to approximately 9,300 residents and businesses within 300 feet of all the project alternatives. Nearly 7,000 comments are received during the 90-day public comment period which ends August 7, 2004. More than 80% of the comments received were supportive of Foothill-South alternatives that went around the city or were opposed to alignments that went through San Clemente.
   
December 2005 The final Subsequent Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) is released, identifying the “green” alignment (A7C-FEC-M) as the preferred alternative. The final analysis concluded that the green alignment best balances the need to relieve traffic with the least environmental and community impacts.
   
February 2006 The Foothill/Eastern TCA Board of Directors certified the project’s final Environmental Impact Report and selected a recommended 16-mile alignment. The TCA is now in the process of obtaining state and federal permits and approvals as well as developing a plan of finance. Construction could begin in 2008-2009 and Foothill-South could open in 2011-2012.
   

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