CONNECTING THE 241: OUR PATH TO SAFETY
San Clemente Times
May 31, 2007
By Jim Dahl and Sam Allevato


Our professional careers have been dedicated to public safety as a firefighter and police lieutenant respectively. Whether it is changing the batteries on our smoke detectors or buckling up, proper preparation is the key to safety.

Now that we are elected officials, we continue that “safety-first” mindset in the way we govern. We have an obligation to build the water projects, roads and other infrastructure projects that are necessary so that when an emergency occurs, we are prepared.

Today there is one way in and out of South Orange County – the I-5 Freeway. From a public safety perspective, that is a disaster waiting to happen. If there were an earthquake or other disaster that required a mass exodus, a secondary route would be vital.

Even in a non-catastrophic event, a secondary route can be critical. An accident on the I-5 can bring traffic to a halt. With no other way through, a medical emergency can turn life-threatening if the ambulance takes 40 minutes to get to the scene instead of 10.

Most people see building the final 16 miles of the 241 to connect it to the I-5 as a convenience; a route that can be used when freeway traffic is bad, which it increasingly is. But this roadway alternative can be a lifeline in an emergency.

The public safety benefits of this roadway were the primary reason the Orange County Fire Authority, Orange County Sheriff, Medix Ambulance Service, and other first responders wrote to Sacramento formally opposing Assembly Bill 1457, which would stop the completion of the 241. Our public safety leaders understand that as the population in South Orange County grows, so does the congestion and the risks.

Rancho Mission Viejo, the area east of San Juan Capistrano and north of San Clemente, has been approved to begin construction of 14,000 homes as early as next year. They’ll also add scores of shops, restaurants, office buildings and other commercial projects. And they say they can do it all without completing the 241. So where is all that traffic going to go? Our city streets and – of course – the I-5.

Traffic studies show that congestion on I-5 in this southernmost area of South Orange County will increase by 60 percent over the next twenty years. We can’t stop the cars from coming, but we can build the infrastructure necessary to prepare properly. Fifty-one miles of the 67-mile system has already been built. We’re simply trying to finish the job.

To develop the preferred alternative route of the 241, TCA worked with the U.S. Marine Corps, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Caltrans and the Federal Highway Administration. This road has been in the planning stages for more than a decade and has been on the Master Plan of Arterial Highways since 1981.

Adding new layers of bureaucracy as proposed by Congresswoman Davis simply allows the state to have jurisdiction over a project that uses no state money, nor impacts any state-owned land. Her amendment to the defense bill to give the state jurisdiction over federal property will at best delay the roadway and at worst, kill it.

This flawed legislation should not pass. One does not buy a smoke detector and leave it in the box for years to bicker over the brand of battery to put in it. This road has been through 20 years of planning and more than a decade of environmental review. For safety sake, its time to stop the bickering and build the road.

Jim Dahl is the Mayor of San Clemente and a Captain with the Orange County Fire Authority. Sam Allevato is the Mayor of San Juan Capistrano and a retired police lieutenant with 33 years in law enforcement. Dahl and Allevato represent their respective cities on the Foothill-Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency Board of Directors, which is responsible for the completion of the 241.