Road arguments remain divided

[question everything]

Friday, January 13, 2006

Road arguments remain divided

Board of Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency tables issue for one week after six-hour meeting

By JIM RADCLIFFE
The Orange County Register

MISSION VIEJO – They came to back a toll-road extension that would ease traffic congestion.

And they came to protest 16 miles of asphalt that would run through parkland and near a famous surfers' beach.

More than 400 backers and opponents of a proposed extension of the Foothill (241) Toll Road railed against and rallied around the $875 million project meant to offer commuters another option and take pressure from the congested San Diego (I-5) Freeway.

After a six-hour meeting that began at 9:30 a.m., the agency's board postponed a decision for a week, when its members are expected to discuss and then vote on the extension. Of the 231 O.C. residents and group and government representatives who filled out cards to speak on the proposal, 155 checked a box saying they supported the project, while 72 were opposed and four did not offer an opinion.

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Many toll-road opponents said widening the I-5 freeway might be the better solution, although toll-road staffers say that would require razing 555 homes and businesses in San Clemente alone. Toll-road opponents say far fewer homes and businesses would have to be razed to widen the I-5. If approved, the toll road would offer two lanes in each direction with a third perhaps someday being added. It would complete the Transportation Corridor Agencies' planned, 67-mile web.

In June, a TCA-hired pollster determined that 69 percent of registered voters in south county support the extension, while 18 percent were opposed and 13 percent undecided. Some opponents of the extension say that polling was flawed.

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http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/article_945820.php