More Twists, Turns in Toll Road Debate : Plans for Irvine Bypass Lead Further From Obvious Solution: Remaining Toll-Free

The plot thickens in the continuing saga of a controversial 1 1/2-mile section of Newport Coast Drive that is slated to relieve commuters of spare change as part of the San Joaquin Hills toll road.

This month the Irvine City Council was caught in a squeeze play when the county threatened to withhold Measure M funds if the city did not approve county construction plans for an alternative free bypass road. The council, also under pressure from residents who don’t want that road to divert traffic through their city, would have none of it and refused to grant the county permission. A county planning group’s advice to restore two Irvine road improvement projects might change that, but the situation remains confusing. A lawsuit filed by opponents of collecting the toll on the controversial section of Newport Coast Drive continues.

Through an odd set of circumstances, the Newport Coast Drive section, which all but a few insiders believed was supposed to remain public, still remains in jeopardy of becoming a pay road. The twists in the fortunes of the yet to be built bypass become more complicated the further plans get from the obvious solution, which is to keep the section toll-free.

The tollway was supposed to ease traffic by providing parallel alternatives to free roads. But there was a lot of fanfare with the opening of the free Newport Coast Drive, and not much talk about anybody having to pay at the end. The dispute is actually increasing concern about congestion in Corona del Mar and Irvine.

This controversy not only has failed to provide an agreeable separate parallel path, but it effectively has pitted the two communities against each other in a battle to head off diverted traffic. Neighborhoods within Irvine near the tollway area also are in a battle to avoid proximity to a proposed bypass.

The Transportation Corridor Agencies understandably are nervous about any effect the loss of anticipated revenue might have on their bond funding. The justification for collecting tolls on the 1 1/2 miles is based upon a state attorney general’s opinion that is a source of contention. The courts will have to sort it all out, and there are questions about the enabling legislation for tollways, and whether it has been correctly interpreted as supportive of the agency’s position on collecting tolls.

Through it all, the larger question of good faith with the public remains very much at issue. Too bad it can’t be solved some other way, but the courts will have to sort it out.