In the Spring of 2006, Assemblymember Benoit and the Lake Elsinore Chamber worked to pass AB 2492. This bill attempted to define a "transportation infrastructure emergency" to mean conditions that required extraordinary state action, including, but not limited to, construction of new highways or highway lanes, in order to relieve traffic congestion that presents a severe threat to the safety and economic well-being of any region in the state. Although AB 2492 failed passage in the State Assembly Transportation Committee on April 24, 2006, the Chamber is committed to returning to the Legislature in 2007 with another proposal.

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March 1, 2006

Regional Transportation Policy Position: Reviewing the East-West Transportation Corridor Issue Connecting Orange County with Riverside County
 

The Southwest California Legislative Council, a regional business advocacy coalition of the Temecula Valley, Murrieta and Lake Elsinore chambers of commerce, approved its Regional Transportation Policy Position at its February 2006 meeting.
 

Click here to download the Southwest California Legislative Council's Regional Transportation Policy Position on this issue including statistical data.

Issue

In 2004, The Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC), the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), and the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCAs) partnered to initiate a Major Investment Study (MIS) to review alternatives for improving travel between Orange County and Riverside County.

The MIS defines short and long term transportation needs and examines a wide range of options for improving traffic flow between Orange and Riverside counties.

Along with evaluating improvements to the 91 freeway itself, the MIS examines the potential for building a new corridor between Riverside and Orange County. The goal of the MIS is to come up with a long-range, balanced transportation plan that includes highway, mass transit, and other options.

Transportation Infrastructure Needs for Southwest California

As of January 2005, Riverside County’s population was 1,877,000, an increase of 3.8% from January 2004. The State of California Department of Finance also reported Riverside County is the fastest growing county in California from 2004 to 2005.

Riverside County is the second fastest growing county in numbers with an increase of over 69,000 people from 2004 to 2005. At this pace, the California State Department of Finance projects that the population of Riverside County to be over 2,100,000 in 2010.

The goal for residents of Southwest California is to avoid the gridlock along Highways 15 and 91 in the next 20 years as more than 100,000 drivers per day join the existing 280,000 people that travel between the cheaper housing in the Inland area and the jobs in Orange County. (See “Drive Time Statistics” below)

As a result of this population increase in the county, the number of motorists along the 10-mile 91 Express Lanes that run along the Riverside 91 Freeway's median is up 20 percent from a year ago. This surge puts the 10-year-old toll road in position to easily surpass last year's all-time high of 11.8 million cars and trucks. In July 2005, 1,223,051 vehicles took the Express Lanes - 202,740 more than the same period in 2004. It was the third straight month with a 20 percent increase over the same month from the previous year.

These commuters are paying up to $7.75 to bypass the congestion on their way to work in Orange County. The reason for the skyrocketing number of motorists willing to pay a toll to sidestep the crowded 91 is simple: The population in the more-affordable Inland Empire - Riverside and San Bernardino counties - is swelling, jobs pay more in Orange County and Los Angeles County and people will pay to avoid sluggish traffic.

Six years ago, 12,000 housing units were built a year in the Inland Empire, said Steve Johnson of Metro Study, a real-estate consulting firm in Riverside. This year's projection: 40,000.

Salaries are also higher at the western end of the 91, fueling traffic. The average Orange County salary was $40,367 in 2003, and in Los Angeles County it was $38,715, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In Riverside County, it was $28,809.

Background

The MIS began with identifying key public concerns and issues connected to improved mobility between the two counties. Public feedback and planning work by the RCTC resulted in a starting point for the development of conceptual alternatives.

All of the alternatives evaluated include widening of the 91 freeway. Five concepts for travel route or “corridors” and twelve alternatives for building transportation facilities were developed for study in addition to a “No Build” alternative. The “No-Build” alternative is the effect of doing nothing beyond the 91 freeway improvements already planned.

During the process, travel improvements to the I-15 now being planned under Measure A (Riverside County’s ½ cent sales tax for transportation) are being taken into consideration as are impacts from RCTC’s proposed 32-mile Mid County Parkway project connecting the communities of San Jacinto and Corona. In January 2005, the RCTC launched a three-year environmental study of the Mid County Parkway project.

In Spring 2005, the RCTC held a series of public comment sessions on the MIS. Feedback from this process allowed the RCTC to further evaluate the conceptual corridors and the alternatives.

In November 2005, the RCTC voted to provide an immediate priority to widening the 91 freeway.

As of January 2006, two strategic corridor improvements are being evaluated. These corridor improvements would take place in the 91 freeway corridor:

1. Corridor A (Santa Ana Canyon - Santa Ana Mountains roughly between Cajalco Road/Interstate 15 and Irvine),
2. Corridor B (Santa Ana Canyon near the existing Highway 91)

The impact of not building any improvements additional to those already planned for the 91 freeway corridor remains a part of the study.

Current SWCLC Position

In August 2005, the Southwest California Legislative Council (SWCLC) approved the position that the final three plans will not be able to alleviate all the traffic congestion issues associated with Southwest California.

The SWCLC voted to oppose the removal of the Corridor C option that would have connected Orange County with Lake Elsinore at Highway 15 approximately at the Lake Street exit.

The SWCLC acknowledges that the MIS includes a large amount of traffic-improvement alternatives on all three of the current plans. All plans include widening Highway 91 and expanding the commuter bus and Metrolink services, but the SWCLC believes that additions to the plans should include:

- A six-lane freeway between Corona and Irvine with at least some of it in a tunnel under the mountains that divide the cities, and possibly tolls.

- An elevated highway next to or over the existing rail lines through parts of the canyon and adjacent to the expanded Highway 91.

- Furthermore, the SWCLC is sponsoring state legislation to suspend the usual procedural hurdles in order to streamline freeway expansion and new construction.

Click here to download the Southwest California Legislative Council's Regional Transportation Policy Position on this issue including statistical data.
 

February 28, 2006
TAKE ACTION!

Submit a Letter of Support for Railroad Canyon Drive/Interstate 15 Interchange Improvements

The City of Lake Elsinore is seeking support of their efforts to secure
federal funding to augment local share funds dedicated to alleviating
severe traffic congestion at the Railroad Canyon Drive/Interstate 15
interchange.

Railroad Canyon Road serves as a connector route between I-15 and I-215 in Southwest California. The current interchange with I-15 serves
approximately 50,000 vehicles per day. In its current condition, during
peak hours of travel, vehicles are backing onto the freeway mainline in
both the north and southbound directions. The condition is unsafe and
worsening, which interferes with the capacity and function of this
highway section.

The City of Lake Elsinore is requesting $8 million for right-of-way acquisition and business relocation as part of an estimated
$35 million project to improve the interchange.

The Southwest California Legislative Council, is the regional advocacy coalition of the Temecula Valley, Murrieta and the Lake Elsinore Valley Chambers of Commerce.