Correa-Spitzer Bill To Add Lanes To 91 Freeway Heads To Governor
Posted by: Jubal | 08/20/2008 1:09 PM
This came over the transom a couple of hours ago from Sen. Lou Correa's office:Senator Correa Bill to Help Build More than 40 Miles of Lanes on Freeway SR-91 Approved by the State SenateKudos to Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, and I applaud Sen. Lou Correa's desire to alleviate congestion and improve the lives of commuters by building, and thereby bucking the belief of his friends on the Left that building more roads actually generates more congestion.
SACRAMENTO, CA - Yesterday, Senate Bill 1316 authored by Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) and co-authored by Assemblymember Todd Spitzer (R-Orange County) was approved by the Senate and awaits the Governor's approval. This bill will primarily provide Riverside and Orange Counties with the ability to place additional lanes on the SR-91 freeway and allow for this construction to be paid with tolls from by the commuters who use the new lanes. Forty (40) miles of lanes will be built on the SR-91 freeway as the result of this legislation.
SR-91 connects Orange County, western Riverside County and southwestern San Bernardino County. According to the California Transportation Agency, there are no alternate vehicular routes between these areas. Due to the rapid growth in population and traffic congestion during the last few decades, the SR-91 freeway is today the most congested traffic artery in Southern California. There are more than 14 million trips taken by motorists every year on SR-91. An average of 281,000 commuters utilize this route to travel to and from work in Orange County - the Inland Empire corridor everyday. The U.S. Census Bureau has estimated that the average commute in Orange County is 21.9 minutes, the fourth longest in the nation.
"Given the projected growth in the Inland Empire area in the next decade, our current transportation infrastructure will be unable to accommodate these growing demands unless we take assertive action now to address these concerns," said Senator Correa. "Senate Bill 1316 will provide local transportation agencies in Riverside and Orange County with the ability to continue to unravel the economic, environmental and commuter chokehold that the current Highway 91 daily forces upon hundreds of thousands of Californians."
Perhaps Sen. Correa might see the light and channel this road-building fervor into fighting for the completion of the 241 toll road. It's never too late to do the right thing, Senator! Dick O'Neill will just have to understand.
Mr. Ayer registered as a Republican to be electable in an interim election with no incumbents. He did...
Does this fall under Arnold "No Bill Signing" policy until the budget is signed? Does that spell doom for this bill?
Do either of these politicans live in Anaheim Hills or Yorba Linda were it would effect the residents. The 91 freeway is almost in there backyards now, the quality of life in these two communities will be taken away, it would hurt home values,but hey if it's not in there backyard why would they care? I hope the voters remember this the next time either are up of election.