Extension to 241 Toll Road not Needed
by Dale Tyler

Once again, the cries of “Save the Toll Road” are echoing through the Mission Viejo council chambers. Our TCA appointee, Councilman Lance MacLean, is trying to convince us that the toll road will be a viable escape route for Orange County residents fleeing a disaster, such as the fires we had last month.

To rebut this point, I provided the following comments to the City Council at their November 19, 2007, meeting.

Regarding item #23 on the November 19, 2007, Agenda:

The proposed extension of the Foothill Eastern (CA-241) Tollway as proposed is a very poor use of resources. Despite the claims of TCA board, this road will ruin one of our truly great parks located near San Onfre State Beach.

In addition, the phony claims of providing an emergency route for Orange County residents have now been proved false. During the fires last month, the I-5 was closed through Camp Pendleton. If the 241 extension had been built, it would have provided no help for those wishing to evacuate the areas stricken by fire. In fact, the I-5 through Camp Pendleton is likely to be the choke point for any southward evacuation, with the 241 only adding to this congestion.

What is really needed is more east-west connectors north of San Clemente to serve the new areas of Rancho Mission Viejo. If the 241 was completed to Cow Camp Road and then a six-lane or wider extension of Cow Camp to I-5 at the 73 was built, this would provide a much more useful transportation improvement. Most of the land to the east of San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano is National Forest and, thus, not available for future development. Extending the 241 past Ortega/Cow Camp Road provides a route very few people would need, mainly serving Rancho Mission Viejo residents en route to San Diego. This is not enough traffic to justify damaging the San Onfre State Park.

Finally, the non-compete agreement the TCA is demanding will actually cause more congestion on the I-5 and prevent new east-west connectors from being built. The 241 extension past Ortega highway will provide less mobility in south Orange County, not provide any useful emergency evacuation alternatives and will likely damage a wonderful State Park.

Let's stop the stupidity and not extend the 241!