Transportation Corridor Agencies | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Chief executive | Valarie McFall [1] |
Headquarters | Irvine, California |
Website | https://thetollroads.com/ |
Operation | |
Began operation | 1986[2] |
Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) are two joint powers authorities formed by the California State Legislature in 1986 to plan, finance, construct, and operate Orange County's toll roads. TCA consists of two local government agencies:
The toll roads maintained by TCA are financed with tax-exempt bonds on a stand-alone basis -- taxpayers are not responsible for repaying any debt if toll revenues fall short.
Some California lawmakers and toll road advocates favor using similar local agencies to build and maintain future tollways, especially after the controversy of authorizing a private company to run the 91 Express Lanes. Others oppose them, arguing that new toll roads will just facilitate and perpetuate sprawl.
The Transportation Corridor Agency funded studies which argued that the California gnatcatcher was not a distinct species, in order to argue for delisting of the species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and enable extension of the State Route 241. [3]
The toll roads managed by Transportation Agencies were originally supposed to be free roads by 2033. [4] But TCA refinanced the debt in 2014, thus extending the agency's authority of the toll roads until 2053. [5]
By 2020, Transportation Corridor Agencies had a budget of 400 million per year [6]
By March 2020, Transportation Corridor Agencies officially abandoned plans to extend state route 241 through San Clemente [7]
In 2021, the city of San Clemente voted to leave the Transportation Corridor Agencies because the city lost faith that the agency will be able to pay off their debt in a timely manner [8]
Road name | Length (mi) | Length (km) | Southern terminus | Northern terminus | Formed | Removed | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SR 73 Toll (San Joaquin Hills Toll Road) | 11.0 | 17.7 | I-5 in Laguna Niguel | Bison Avenue at Irvine/Newport Beach boundary | 1996 | current | The section of SR 73 from I-5 to Greenfield Road is not tolled. SR 73 continues north of Bison Avenue as the Corona Del Mar Freeway to I-405 in Costa Mesa |
SR 133 Toll ( Eastern Toll Road ) | 4.1 | 6.6 | I-5 in Irvine | SR 241 in Irvine | 1998 | current | SR 133 continues south of I-5 as the Laguna Freeway to I-405 then as Laguna Canyon Road from I-405 to Laguna Beach city limits where it becomes Broadway to its terminus at SR 1 (Pacific Coast Highway). |
SR 241 Toll (Foothill and Eastern Toll Roads) | 24.5 | 39.4 | Oso Parkway and Los Patrones Parkway near Las Flores | SR 91 in Anaheim | 1993 | current | Section of SR 241 north of SR 133 is part of the Eastern Transportation Corridor and south of SR 133 is the Foothill Transportation Corridor. Non-tolled continuation past the southern terminus of SR 241 to Cow Camp Road in Rancho Mission Viejo is Los Patrones Parkway. |
SR 261 Toll (Eastern Toll Road) | 6.2 | 10.0 | Walnut Avenue and Jamboree Road in Irvine | SR 241 in Orange | 1999 | current | Non-tolled continuation past the southern terminus of SR 261 to Bayside Drive in Newport Beach is Jamboree Road. |
In 2020, Transportation Corridor Agencies were criticized for trying to convert a non tolled road into a toll road. Transportation Corridor Agencies, also objected to state legislation that forbid them from expanding the toll system in orange county after TCA was caught using toll money to pay lobbyist. [9]
In 2020, the Orange County Grand Jury released a report that stated that the Transportation Corridor Agencies has completely fulfilled its original mandate, while criticizing them for trying to involve itself in future toll planning by claiming that, "much of the planning is being performed by consultants and TCA staff, who have a financial interest in seeing the TCA continue beyond its original mandate, and out of view of many of the TCA board members and the public thus creating a conflict of interest issue,” [10]
In 2021, the Transportation Corridor Agencies were criticized by the Orange County Grand Jury for collecting over 28 billion dollars on a highway system that cost 2.8 billion dollars to build. The grand Jury's main argument is that TCA has no excuse to wait to pay off the debt in 2053 [11] [12]
In 2022, TCA CEO resigned due to a misconduct investigation [13]
San Clemente ) is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway between Los Angeles and San Diego, San Clemente is a popular tourist destination in Southern California, known for its beaches, Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, and hospitality industry. San Clemente's city slogan is "Spanish Village by the Sea".
The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is the transportation planning commission for Orange County, California in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. OCTA is responsible for funding and implementing transit and capital projects for the transportation system in the county, including freeway expansions, express lane management, bus and rail transit operation, and commuter rail funding and oversight.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), branded as Metro, is the county agency that plans, operates, and coordinates funding for most of the public transportation system in Los Angeles County, California, the most populated county in the United States. The agency directly operates a large transit system that includes bus, light rail, heavy rail (subway), and bus rapid transit services; and provides funding for transit it does not operate, including Metrolink commuter rail, municipal bus operators and paratransit services. Metro also provides funding and directs planning for railroad and highway projects within Los Angeles County. In 2022, the system had a total ridership of 255,250,500 and had a ridership of 890,100 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023. It is the single largest transit agency within the county as well.
The Pacific Surfliner is a 350-mile (560 km) passenger train service serving the communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo.
State Route 91 (SR 91) is a major east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that serves several regions of the Greater Los Angeles urban area. A freeway throughout its entire length, it officially runs from Vermont Avenue in Gardena, just west of the junction with the Harbor Freeway, east to Riverside at the junction with the Pomona and Moreno Valley freeways.
State Route 133 (SR 133) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California, serving as an urban route in Orange County. It connects SR 1 in Laguna Beach through the San Joaquin Hills with several freeways in Irvine, ending at the SR 241, a toll road in the latter city. It is built as an expressway from SR 73 to Laguna Canyon Road, and past this, SR 133 is a freeway to I-5, and a tollway to SR 241 near the Santa Ana Mountains.
Interstate 405 is a major north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway in Southern California. The entire route is known as the northern segment of the San Diego Freeway. I-405 is a bypass auxiliary route of I-5, running along the southern and western parts of the Greater Los Angeles urban area from Irvine in the south to Sylmar in the north.
FasTrak is the electronic toll collection (ETC) system used in the state of California in the United States. The system is used statewide on all of the toll roads, toll bridges, and high-occupancy toll lanes along the California Freeway and Expressway System.
The El Toro "Y" is a freeway interchange in Irvine, California where the Santa Ana Freeway, Interstate 5 (I-5), and the San Diego Freeway merge. South of the El Toro Y, the highway is named the "San Diego Freeway" with the highway designation "I-5." Located in south Orange County im, the interchange was named after the nearby city El Toro, and the now-closed Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, located northeast of the interchange.
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, more commonly known simply as the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), is a special district responsible for public transit services, congestion management, specific highway improvement projects, and countywide transportation planning for Santa Clara County, California. It serves San Jose, California, and the surrounding Silicon Valley. It is one of the governing parties for the Caltrain commuter rail line that serves the county. In 2022, the VTA's public transportation services had a combined ridership of 21,381,600, or about 84,800 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.
The Southern California freeways are a vast network of interconnected freeways in the megaregion of Southern California, serving a population of 23 million people. The Master Plan of Metropolitan Los Angeles Freeways was adopted by the Regional Planning Commission in 1947 and construction began in the early 1950s. The plan hit opposition and funding limitations in the 1970s, and by 2004, only some 61% of the original planned network had been completed.
State Route 73 (SR 73) is an approximately 17.76-mile (28.58 km) state highway in Orange County, California. The southernmost 12 miles (19.31 km) of the highway is a toll road operated by the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency named the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor, which opened in November 1996. The northernmost 5.76 miles (9.27 km) of the highway, which opened in 1978, is part of the Corona del Mar Freeway. SR 73's southern terminus is at Interstate 5 (I-5) in San Juan Capistrano and its northern terminus is at Interstate 405 (I-405) in Costa Mesa. The highway's alignment through the San Joaquin Hills follows an approximately parallel path between the Pacific Coast Highway and I-405. Currently, there are no HOV lanes for the three-mile freeway segment, but the medians have been designed with sufficient clearance for their construction should the need arise in the future.
State Route 241 is a state highway in Orange County, California that is a toll road for its entire length. Its southern half from near Las Flores to near Irvine is the Foothill Transportation Corridor, while its northern half to SR 91 on the Anaheim–Yorba Linda border forms part of the Eastern Transportation Corridor system with SR 133 and SR 261.
State Route 261 (SR 261) is a state highway that forms part of the Eastern Transportation Corridor toll road system in Orange County, California. It runs from Walnut Avenue and Jamboree Road in Irvine north to SR 241. North of this interchange, SR 241 becomes part of the Eastern Transportation Corridor. SR 261 parallels Jamboree Road for its entire length. SR 261 does not directly connect with I-5 in Irvine, as Jamboree Road and other streets must be used to make the connection.
The Surf Line is a railroad line that runs from San Diego north to Orange County along California's Pacific Coast. It was so named because much of the line is near the Pacific Ocean, within less than 100 feet (30 m) in some places. The tracks are now owned by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority and the North County Transit District, and hosts Metrolink's Orange County Line and Inland Empire–Orange County Line, the San Diego Coaster, and Amtrak Pacific Surfliner passenger trains. The BNSF Railway operates freight over the line using trackage rights.
State Highway 130 (SH 130), also known as the Pickle Parkway, is a highway from Interstate 35 (I-35) in San Antonio along I-410 and I-10 to east of Seguin, then north as tollway from there to I-35 north of Georgetown. SH 130 runs in a 91-mile (146 km) corridor east and south of Austin. The route parallels I-35 and is intended to relieve the Interstate's traffic volume through the San Antonio–Austin corridor by serving as an alternate route.
Trestles is a collection of surfing spots between northern San Onofre State Beach in San Diego County and southern San Clemente in Orange County in California. Trestles consists of, from north to south, Upper Trestles (Uppers), Lower Trestles (Lowers), and Middle Trestles (Middles). North of Upper Trestles is the surf spot called Cottons. South of Middles is the surf spot called The Church. Middles gets its name because it was a middle area between Trestles and The Church (sometimes just called "Church". It is named after Trestles Bridge, a wooden trestle bridge that surfers must walk under to reach the beach, replaced in 2012 by a concrete viaduct.
Interstate 5 (I-5) is a major north–south route of the Interstate Highway System in the United States, stretching from the Mexican border at the San Ysidro crossing to the Canadian border near Blaine, Washington. The segment of I-5 in California runs 796.77 miles (1,282.28 km) across the length of the state from San Ysidro to the Oregon state line south of the Medford-Ashland metropolitan area. It is the longest interstate in California, and accounts for more than half of I-5's total length.
Jamboree Road is a 15.8-mile (25.4 km) long major arterial road through Orange County, California, running through the cities of Newport Beach, Irvine, Tustin, and Orange.
Will O'Neill is the former Mayor of the City of Newport Beach and Chair of the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency.
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