The Capistrano Insider

The 241 Toll Road Extension Has a Name: The Tesoro Extension

Geez, if we're going to get the traffic, shouldn't be at least get the name? The Capistrano Connection even has a nice ring ...

From the Transportation Corridor Agencies ...

Using feedback from Board Members and the community, The Toll Roads staff has worked the past few months performing technical analysis to determine the location of the southern terminus of the 241 extension project – now called the State Route 241 Tesoro Extension.

The Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency’s (F/ETCA) Board of Directors voted to continue the engineering, environmental, traffic and financial analysis of the extension that will end temporarily at the future Cow Camp Road near San Juan Capistrano.  At a later date -- when the adjacent local transportation system is complete in the unincorporated area north of Ortega Highway and east of Antonio Parkway -- a permanent SR 241 interchange will be built at future “G Street.” The extension will be 4.8 miles long.

Cow Camp Road is planned to run parallel to Ortega Highway to the north of San Juan Creek and will be the area’s major east-west arterial roadway with two to three lanes in each direction. It is projected to carry more than 30,000 trips per day in 2035.  Ortega Highway will become a secondary road with one lane in each direction through the area and is estimated to carry 6,000 trips a day in 2035.

The SR 241 Tesoro Extension analysis is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2012 and construction could begin shortly thereafter. The construction cost is estimated at $200 million. The F/ETCA Board also approved a contract with Barclays Capital Inc. for development of a finance plan. Barclays has a long financial history with TCA and was instrumental in helping the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency (SJHTCA) achieve successful debt restructuring in May 2011.

Mayor: Capistrano Aiming for 'Home Run'

Maybe it's because the playoffs are underway, but Mayor Sam Allevato's monthly column is baseball-themed. It starts with a line about keeping your eye on the ball, and finishes with how good planning and implementation would be a home run for all of us.

Topics he covers as recently accomplishments include various items off the agenda, along with plans for Pedros Tacos on Camino Cap to remodel into a two-story "Mission Grill."

He also talks about a new philosophy in Police Services, where one less motorcycle deputy will be patrolling the streets after the City Council decided to dedicate more resources to Neighborhood Watch and similar crime-prevention efforts.

The council voted this month to eliminate one of the three motor deputy positions, along with a long-vacant patrol deputy post to hire a sergeant and community services officer. That will give Capistrano a dedicated position to organize Neighborhood Watch programs, hold crime prevention meetings throughout the city and work with community groups on truancy and gang-reduction programs. The sergeant, meanwhile, will be able to better track crime trends and other issues. San Clemente and Dana Point have similar programs.

The changes also save the city about $43,000 a year, said Chief of Police Services Lt. John Meyer. 

As for the Mayor's Message, I'll let you decide whether it's a hit ... or strikes out. :)

Download Mayor's Message October 2011

More Money for the Ortega Interchange ...

Maybe they're actually going to do it ...

This from Supervisor Pat Bates:

SR-74 Interchange Funding

At the California Transportation Commission (CTC) meeting September 15, the CTC approved the Orange County Transportation Authority’s request to amend the Proposition 1B Corridor Mobility Improvement Account (CMIA) to reprogram $15.9 million in CMIA funds to the I-5/SR-74 interchange project.

This CTC action makes available County developer fee funding previously committed to the project that can now be used for transportation projects in South County, such as the extension of La Pata Avenue. The improvements at the I-5/SR-74 interchange, scheduled to start construction in the late fall of 2012, will:

• Create a total of 700 jobs, producing $30 million in wages
• Improve safety at the interchange and significantly reduce congestion-related accidents
• Reduce queued traffic leading to improved travel time through southern Orange County
• Improve access to jobs, housing, markets, and commerce
• Provide quantifiable emission reductions for Reactive Organic Gases, Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Oxide and Particulate Matter
• Improve southbound I-5 traffic flow by reducing vehicle queues that spill back on the freeway

Los Angeles Considers Longer Yellows for Safety -- See This, San Juan Capistrano?

I've seen studies that say extending the length of yellow lights at intersections is effective at reducing accident rates.

Now that Los Angeles has pulled its red-light cameras, officials there are looking at longer yellows.The length of a yellow light is generally tied to speed limit on any given street, with faster speeds earning longer yellows.

San Juan Capistrano city officials say they're through with the red light cameras, too, but they'll stay in place until the end of the contract with the camera company.

Here's the LA Times story on the move there.

And here's an old Grand Jury report on the red light cameras, before the public tide turned:

Download Redlight

And, just for fun, here's San Juan Capistrano's mandated response to the report:

Download ResponseRedLightSJC

 

Report: 73 Toll Road Not Doing So Well ...

Jonathan Lanser over at the OC Register has a story up that low revenues (on top of already low revenues) will likely lead to tolls being extended six years for the 73 toll road, which runs between San Juan Capistrano and Newport Beach.

From his story:

The managers and political directors of the long-suffering thoroughfare have come up with a plan that essentially gives the road’s government operators — Transportation Corridor Agencies — financial breathing room in return for extending the maturities of bonds that helped build the western Orange County bypass.

Yes, the 73 wants a loan mod!

Even before the Great Recession hit us all, the 73 was in trouble. It never drew the crowd of drivers originally envisioned, and needed a serious financial makeover nearly a decade ago: what amounted to a $120 million loan from its financially healthier toll-road relative, the Foothill-Eastern. That fix could not weather the recent economic storm that has driven traffic on the 73 back to levels last seen in 1999.

The 73′s bond-funded construction — started in 1993 and refinanced in 1997 — is primarily repaid through tolls and fees on new developments that benefit from the road. Creators of Orange County’s toll roads promised to halt tolls once all debts are paid off. Originally, for the 73 that was supposed to be 2036. Now, if the restructuring plan sails through, it will be scheduled as 2042!

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See the entire piece here.