Just in from Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman on a very important issue…
Completion of the Orange County Toll-Road — a Statewide Benefit that Needs to Move Forward Now
By Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman (R-Tustin)
With the State in a Fiscal Emergency, California Can Lead by Taking Advantage of this Public-Private Partnership California faces a golden opportunity. With worn down roads, congested traffic and a $14 billion budget deficit, we need alternatives to fund critical infrastructure projects. Our golden opportunity? We can take advantage of a public private partnership by supporting the completion of State Route 241 and Orange County’s system of Toll Roads. The Transportation Corridors Agencies are offering California two smart solutions to our statewide challenges of relieving traffic congestion and building costly infrastructure. They would build State Route 241 at no cost to California taxpayers, and give $100 million to improve California State Parks. This equals one-fourth of the State Parks Department annual operating budget, and given the State Parks Department’s $1.2 billion maintenance backlog — this offer is much needed. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked for increased public private partnerships to fund important infrastructure projects. By supporting the completion of State Route 241, California can set a national example of finding solutions to funding problems to other states. California critically needs State Route 241 as an alternative to Interstate-5 to secure our place as the world’s 7th largest economy, and it is the best alternative to the traffic problem in Southern California.
By 2020, traffic on the I-5 is expected to increase by 60 percent through this area of Orange County. Without a completed 241, traffic on the I-5 will rival the congestion along the Riverside (91) Freeway between Orange and Riverside counties.
This congested traffic not only hurts California’s economy by limiting goods movement, it also hurts the health of our residents. State Route 241 would act as an alternative emergency route in times of a potential statewide emergency or terrorist attack. This road could also act as a fire break, like the Toll Road did during the Sierra Peak fire in Anaheim Hills in February 2006, protecting thousands of homes. The congested traffic along I-5 hurts the health of California’s residents by creating unnecessary air quality issues. Orange County’s existing system of Toll Roads saves drivers over 2 million gallons of gasoline per year. Think about the improved air quality if we complete State Route 241. On top of all of this, completing State Route 241 is the least environmentally damaging practical alternative. In fact, the federal and state agencies who selected this alternative route for Southern California include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish & Wildlife, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the California Department of Transportation. They met over 50 times, over a course of 6 years – and made a unanimous decision, that the completion of Foothill-South is the least environmentally damaging alternative.
This roadway will have a state-of-the-art water-treatment system that will ensure all the initial water runoff, water that contains most typical roadway pollutants like brake-pad dust and motor oil, will be captured and treated. Once the road is built, TCA has even agreed to treat the water runoff along a two-mile stretch of the I-5 near Trestles Beach. Today, that water runs straight off the freeway and into the ocean untreated. This is more than a regional problem. These infrastructure issues will continue to plague California unless we find an alternative to funding – just like this opportunity in Southern California. This public-private partnership is exactly what the State needs in order to provide Californians with new infrastructure. The $100 million for the California State Park System is icing on the cake. California should lead in private/public partnerships. Let’s set a precedent that the rest of the country can follow. I support the Governor in his support of the completion of State Route 241. I urge you to do the same.