LAGUNA BEACH : City Suit to Oppose Eastern Toll Road

The city, which has long opposed construction of the San Joaquin Hills toll road, is now taking on the Eastern toll road, which would stretch 23 miles from the Riverside Freeway to Santiago Canyon Road and then split into two branches that would continue to the Santa Ana Freeway and the Laguna Freeway.

Claiming the environmental reports on the Eastern corridor do not adequately address the traffic burden it would place on Laguna Canyon Road, the City Council agreed in closed session last week to file a lawsuit against the Transportation Corridor Agency.

Because one leg of the toll road would flow onto the Laguna Freeway, which becomes Laguna Canyon Road, city officials believe it would create a “tremendous increase� in traffic on the winding canyon roadway. Last month, the council held a public hearing to gather comments about the proposed Eastern toll road.

“The general feeling was the amount of traffic this will put on Laguna Canyon Road is tremendous,� City Councilwoman Ann Christoph said. “Most of the impact we’re concerned about relates to that one basic fact.�

But agency spokesman Mike Stockstill said the proposed corridor will actually reduce traffic on the city’s two busiest roadways.

“It’s hard to understand what is motivating Laguna Beach in this matter,� Stockstill said. “The traffic studies we conducted for the Eastern show that with the Eastern built, it decreases traffic levels both on Pacific Coast Highway and Laguna Canyon Road.�

During a closed session Friday, the City Council agreed to hire the law firm of Schute, Mihaly & Weinberger to represent Laguna Beach in the action against the agency charged with building three Orange County toll roads. The San Francisco firm has already filed suit opposing the San Joaquin Hills corridor on behalf of four environmental groups.

Although Laguna Beach has steadfastly opposed the San Joaquin Hills tollway, city officials agreed not to take legal action to block that corridor under an agreement to purchase land in Laguna Canyon.

Last month, the tollway agency approved the environmental review of the Eastern corridor.

Officials from Orange and Santa Ana, who are unhappy that the agency board approved the $630-million roadway without guaranteeing that the leg closest to their cities would be built first, said they are also considering filing suit against the agency.