By Eric Heinz
According to the agenda for the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA), the administrators of The Toll Roads will look for approval from half of the board tomorrow, Nov. 8, to pursue spending up to $16 million on its next environmental and specifications document.
San Clemente at-large was introduced to the Project Study Report/Project Development Study (PSR/PDS) during a forum on Oct. 24. That study leads into the next step, the Project Approval/Environmental Document (PA/ED), which includes the compilation of the environmental impact report required by the California Environmental Quality Act as well as the National Environmental Policy Act (CEQA and NEPA, respectively).
This is a massive milestone for the TCA to try to continue its work on the various South Orange County mobility projects it seeks to complete, which include trying to connect SR-241 to I-5, managed lanes and other toll road proposals.
The TCA is seeking the approval to use $9.3 million for a contract with LSA Associates, Inc. to “provide environmental services” for the PA/ED document; $5.69 million to execute a task order with Fehr & Peers for “traffic modeling and technical services for the document; and $1.5 million to be set aside for additional costs.
The meeting with take place with the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency but not the San Joaquin side, as the item will deal with the SR-241 extension as well as other transportation improvement measures–and that includes the looming Idea 14 as well as seven other proposals, which includes managed lanes on I-5 through the city.
San Clemente city attorney Scott Smith said at the Wednesday, Nov. 7, City Council meeting that the city recently filed another temporary restraining order against the TCA in regard to these documents. The city already has filed a temporary restraining order against the TCA and an ongoing lawsuit against a protective agreement it reached in 2016 with various environmental groups.
The meeting on providing funding for the services of the new document takes place at 9:30 a.m. at the TCA headquarters, 125 Pacifica in Irvine. If you can’t make it in person, click the link here and the live broadcast should start the same time as the meeting.
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