That is the first place motorists coming from Orange County can exit the Express Lanes they can enter it there, too. The Transportation Corridor Agencies touts the 241/Express Lanes connector as key to decreasing congestion, creating more efficient toll lanes and improving safety for drivers who would no longer have to weave over multiple lanes of traffic to move between the 241 and 91 Express Lanes at the county border. The ramp would connect the tollways in both directions, although public debate has focused on the eastbound direction. It takes a long leg in the middle to take both. “Why we are taking a pause on this now is beyond me,” Chamberlain said. He noted the current danger of cars from the 241 quickly cutting across traffic to reach the 91 Express Lanes at the Riverside County line. Ryan Chamberlain, director of Caltrans’ Orange County district, said the state agency has studied the connector project and believes it would benefit the area. Instead, the OCTA board directed its staffers to work with the Riverside County Transportation Commission to come up with big-picture proposals on how to improve the chronically congested traffic lanes on the 91 freeway. The vote follows a recommendation earlier this month by the OCTA’s Executive Committee.Ī high-ranking official with Caltrans, the state agency with veto power on any freeway traffic project, backed the ramp. The 10-3 vote by the Orange County Transportation Authority’s board requests that the Transportation Corridor Agencies – the public agency that runs the 241 toll road and is the driving force behind the proposed connector – slow down on plans for an elaborate ramp connecting the paid traffic lanes. “If we do, we run the risk of losing all the goodwill the purchase has built up between the counties.SANTA ANA – County transportation leaders on Monday pushed for a delay on any plans for a $180 million ramp linking the 241 toll road and 91 Freeway Express Lanes over fears the project could increase congestion on both the freeway and the tollway that runs along the middle of it. “We cannot just willy-nilly raise tolls without a clear, understandable, fully scrutinized rationale,” Spitzer said. Keenan said that if road improvements can be made, traffic demand in the toll lanes might be reduced, eliminating any need to raise fees. Non-peak hours would be the most likely for lower tolls, the study concluded. In one scenario, the report stated that tolls might have to be raised at rush hour to keep traffic flowing in the future. Keenan said a new traffic study being prepared by Vollmer & Associates indicates that the lanes already are at capacity during peak hours. OCTA officials have talked about the possibility of lowering fares in the future, but no decisions have been made. The tolls themselves will be among the first items discussed later this month. The committee will advise policy makers on tolls and improvements to the Riverside Freeway as well as on a possible new transportation corridor between Orange and Riverside counties. Toll lane policy now will be decided by the OCTA directors based on recommendations from a joint advisory committee of five OCTA board members, five members of the Riverside County Transportation Commission, two Caltrans directors and a representative from San Bernardino County. “We are convinced this is the right thing to do,” said Riverside County Supervisor John Tavaglione, who heads the Riverside County Transportation Commission. A separate case brought by the city of Corona against Caltrans is still pending. Keenan said Riverside officials were assured that the language of the provision was benign and would not interfere with planned improvements.Īlso Friday, attorneys for Riverside County went to court and dismissed two county lawsuits against Caltrans and the toll road company that challenged the constitutionality of the non-competition clause. To get the deal finalized, OCTA officials overcame last-minute concerns from Riverside County that the purchase agreement still contained a broadly worded non-competition clause. Current projects across the state are in jeopardy, he said, and others not in the queue yet will fall further down the list of priorities. Spitzer cautioned, however, that the state budget deficit, which is threatening almost $2.5 billion in transportation funds and 141 current projects, could hamper efforts to secure matching state money for improvements to the Riverside Freeway. ![]() This paves the way for improvements that would have been prohibited from the 605 Freeway to the I-15 for 30 years.” “There were a significant number of actors with a lot at stake. “This was a very difficult transaction to pull off,” said Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, a former Orange County Supervisor and chairman of the OCTA board of directors, who pushed for the purchase.
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