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THE ROAD TO A SHORTER COMMUTE
Congress should not stop the toll road extension. To win, we’re going to have to fight.
OC Metro
June 7, 2007
By Congressman John Campbell
It has been planned since 1991. Seventy-two percent of the people in Orange County support the toll roads. It will shorten commute times on Interstate 5 in South County dramatically. Specifically, the peak time drive from Oso Parkway to the southern edge of San Clemente will drop from an average of 1 hour to between 16 and 25 minutes. It will not require the condemnation of a single home or business. It has got to be the most environmentally sensitive road ever built. It has 15 wildlife undercrossings and 12 water treatment basins. Its location was specifically moved to avoid habitats of assorted toads, mice, Indian sites and wetlands. And because it is a toll road, it is user pay and will not divert one dollar of taxpayer funds from the 55, 91, 405 or any other road project.
It’s the extension of the 241 toll road from its current dead end at Oso Parkway to where it would connect with Interstate 5 just past the San Diego County line. It is popularly known as Foothill South.
Sounds great, huh? Should be no problem, right?
Nothing is no problem anymore. You would think that a state highway following a local route would not have much involvement from Congress. But Foothill South goes along the edge of Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base for about the last 25% of its course. Therefore, there is federal involvement because the Department of the Navy has to grant an easement and be OK with it.
And they are. Legislation passed eight years ago authorizing the Navy to grant this easement, and they have. This is through a part of the base that is the buffer zone between where the military operations are held and the surrounding communities. So, the Marines are fine with the whole thing.
In spite of all of this, there are still some environmental groups that oppose the road. I think some of them are just against any road. Some surfers oppose it because they think it will affect the break at Trestles. But the road is entirely on the inland side of Interstate 5 and completely bridges over the creek that runs to that beach. Anyway, the opposition groups are using the fact that a part of the Marine base here is actually leased to the state as a state park as their point of opposition to kill the entire road.
The opposition groups recently found two allies in Congress to try to kill the road with an amendment to one of the huge bills we have in Congress. The amendment was introduced by Susan Davis, a Democrat from San Diego and was supported by Loretta Sanchez (D-Santa Ana). Because Democrats are now in charge in Washington, and because there was no Southern California Democrat to oppose it, the amendment passed. Now we have to get it out before the bill becomes law.
There are lots of details I don’t have the room to go into here. Suffice it to say that I was very disappointed to see Ms. Sanchez go against the wishes of such a huge majority of the residents of Orange County, and against the wishes of all of the congressmen who represent any of the areas of the road or around the road. I guess she and the other opponents don’t care about your commute times. I guess they don’t want the economic growth this would spur. I guess they don’t want to set the standard for environmentally conscious roadways.
Well I do. And most of you do. But we will have to fight to have reason win.
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