FLAWS CITED IN COASTAL COMMISSION STAFF REPORT ON 241 TOLL ROAD
Report on extension of the 241 Toll Road is 'Inaccurate and Misleading,' Transportation Corridor Agencies Say

IRVINE, Calif. (January 9, 2008) - The Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) today issued a compelling, detailed response that rebuts findings in the California Coastal Commission's staff report on the proposed 16-mile extension of the 241 Toll Road in South Orange County.

"The Coastal Commission staff report consistently ignores scientific analysis and data, preferring instead to rely on evidence of alleged impacts provided by project opponents," said Lance MacLean, chairman of the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency. "Our response is a compelling, point-by-point refutation of the errors and exaggerations in the staff report. The 241 has been planned with the utmost care to relieve traffic and also to protect the human, animal and plant resources along the route."

The response calls the report "inaccurate and misleading" and corrects numerous factual errors and other misleading statements made, as the toll road agency seeks a coastal consistency certification required as a next step in moving the toll road extension forward, which is critical for mobility in the region. The Coastal Commission is scheduled to hear the request for certification at its hearing in early February.

The 241 extension, Foothill-South, is the final segment of Orange County's planned 67-mile toll road system. The project has been the subject of regional planning efforts for decades, and has been on the County's Master Plan of Arterial Highways since 1981. Since 1996, TCA has worked with the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Caltrans as part of a comprehensive federal environmental review process of project alternatives to relieve regional traffic congestion with the least impact to the natural environment and communities.