O.C. Assembly members’ bill would block freeway toll lanes

As rush-hour traffic on the 405 Freeway hummed in the background, two California Assembly members introduced a bill Tuesday morning aimed at prohibiting the state transportation agency from adding toll lanes to any freeway in Orange County without voter approval.

During a news conference at Assemblyman Matthew Harper’s 74th District office in Costa Mesa, Harper (R-Huntington Beach) and Assemblywoman Young Kim (R-Fullerton) announced Assembly Bill 1459, which would require a two-thirds public vote for any addition of freeway toll lanes.

The issue stems from an ongoing debate between officials of communities bordering the 405 Freeway and the California Department of Transportation. The state agency plans to add a toll lane in each direction along the 14-mile stretch of the 405 between the 605 Freeway and Costa Mesa.

The 405 Freeway Cities Coalition — made up of representatives of Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Westminster and Rossmoor — favors a $1.3-billion plan by the Orange County Transportation Authority to widen the 405 and add one general-use lane in each direction. The project would be funded through Measure M2, a half-cent sales tax approved by Orange County voters in 2006 to fund county transportation projects.

Opponents of the toll lanes have claimed that Caltrans is trying to piggyback on county funds to move forward with its $400-million plan to add the pay lanes.

“Measure M2, approved by the Orange County voters, included hundreds of millions of dollars to widen the 405 Freeway from Costa Mesa to the [Orange/Los Angeles] county line, said Kim, who represents the 65th Assembly District. “Despite the local animosity toward toll lanes and despite the fact that the OCTA board of directors have rejected toll lanes twice, Caltrans has released their decision to build a toll lane on the 405 Freeway.”

Kim said having the toll lanes would be the equivalent of taxing county residents twice, once through the voluntary sales tax increase and again through tolls. She said she does not want area freeways to turn into a “moneymaking scam.”

OCTA spokesman Joel Zlotnik said his agency is talking with Caltrans about whether any toll-lane addition should be controlled by OCTA.

Westminster Councilwoman Diana Carey, a member of the 405 Freeway Cities Coalition, said OCTA should add two general lanes in each direction and keep the existing carpool lane.

“Freeways are called freeways for a reason,” Costa Mesa Mayor Steve Mensinger said, “and adding a toll lane using funding from taxpayer-voted improvement dollars for the freeways is unconscionable. Our position as the corridor cities is that we should expand our freeway and it should stay as a freeway. Period.”

Harper, a former mayor of Huntington Beach and a former OCTA board member, said Caltrans’ plan to add toll lanes on the 405 could lead to new toll lanes on other freeways in the county.

“We are teetering on the edge of a slippery slope that will soon impact every resident and every driver in Orange County,” he said.

Harper’s 74th District includes all or parts of Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Irvine, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and Laguna Woods.

Kim’s 65th District includes all or parts of Fullerton, Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, La Palma and Stanton.

Their bill has not yet been referred to a legislative committee for a hearing.

Last year, a similar bill by then-Assemblyman Allan Mansoor (R-Costa Mesa) failed to gain traction in the Legislature.