EDITORIAL: Savor toll road victory

Surfers and environmentalists should be delighted that the U.S. secretary of commerce, Carlos Gutierrez, on Dec. 18 rejected pleas by the Transportation Corridor Agency that an extension of the 241 Toll Road must be built on state park land near San Onofre’s famed Trestles surf break.

A hearing on the toll road issue before the California Coastal Commission drew thousands of protesters to the Del Mar Fairgrounds in February, and a following appeal to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the Commerce Department, drew another record crowd in September.

Laguna Beach’s then-Mayor Jane Egly and Councilwoman Toni Iseman were among hundreds of speakers against the toll road project.

The toll road has its supporters: In fact, most of South County’s political establishment lined up to speak in support at the hearings, and a meeting of the Coastal Chambers of Commerce in September was devoted to the theme that the toll road must be built because “they” are coming.

“They” refers to visitors and new residents from a large number of residential and commercial projects approved, proposed or already under way in the cities that surround Laguna Beach.

At the chamber meeting, four cities adjacent to Laguna Beach “” Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente “” all presented their plans to build out their towns with new shopping centers, office complexes, medical facilities and large housing projects.

Laguna Beach City Manager Ken Frank took a different tack, describing how this city is already built to the max and the issues here are all about how to manage traffic, infill projects and redevelopment of older homes.

Like the cheese in the middle of it all, Laguna stands alone in opposing the toll road extension “” at least through beach-adjacent state parkland.

County Supervisor Pat Bates also argued that voters essentially approved the 241 Toll Road extension by passing Measure M, the transportation tax measure that funds it.

The money is there to build the road, but the political will is not.

Now the toll road agency will have to rethink its plan for easing the predicted traffic crunch on the 5 Freeway in south Orange County and north San Diego County. A court challenge is not out of the question.

Another option is to add freeway lanes or reconfigure the toll road extension to keep the public park sacrosanct. That way, when “they” come, there will be public parks, surf breaks and roads to accommodate all.