| Foothill Toll Road |
Article Index for Foothill |
Website Links For Foothill |
Information AboutFoothill Toll Road |
|
The Foothill Toll Road (also called The '''Foothill Transportation Corridor''') is a 12-mile Tollway in Orange County, California . Signed as California State Highway 241 , it travels Parallel to Interstate 5 , connecting the Eastern Toll Road outside of Irvine with Oso Parkway near Mission Viejo . The toll road is maintained by Transportation Corridor Agencies and is financed with tax-exempt bonds on a stand-alone basis -- taxpayers are not responsible for repaying any debt if toll revenues fall short. Yet the TCA routinely seeks congressional handouts of taxpayer funds for purposes such as environmental studies. The road is expected to cost $875 million. A southern expansion, Foothill-South is currently being planned for the Foothill Toll Road.The locally preferred route would expand the toll road to meet with Interstate 5 at the San Diego County line. But this idea is controversial because it would take the road through undeveloped and agricultural lands, including San Onofre State Beach Park. It would also impact the Donna O'Neill Land Conservancy, a parcel put aside as mitigation for construction of a parking lot at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. The State Park also contains numerous Native American sites, such as the ancient Acjachemen village of Panhe. Other alternatives include having the toll road meet the 5 in San Clemente , or just ending the tollway at a major San Clemente city street. Still another option, called the Beltway, would bring the 241 to meet the 5 closer to San Juan Capistrano and the 73. The TCA has admitted this would help east-west traffic but would not uncongest the 5. If the TCA continues in their plan to expand Foothill-South through a State Park, Attorney General Bill Lockyer has threatened to sue, as well as a coalition of such groups as Sierra Club , Surfrider, Natural Resources Defense Council, and others. Though the TCA originally hoped to have the road complete by now, construction is slated to be complete by 2012. EXTERNAL LINKS |
|
|