Orange County transportation officials voted Monday to widen a clogged stretch of the 405 Freeway without adding controversial toll lanes, but state officials have warned that they may override that decision and require the pay-to-drive lanes anyway.
After months of rancorous debate, Orange County Transportation Authority board members voted 11 to 4 to approve a $1.3-billion proposal to add one free lane in each direction on the 405 from the 605 Freeway to Euclid Street.
The most controversial alternative would have cost $1.47 billion and added two high-occupancy toll lanes in each direction along a 14-mile stretch of the freeway.
Six cities along the route banded together in opposition of the toll lanes — derisively referred to as "Lexus Lanes" by one mayor — saying that they were an inappropriate use of money from the county's half-cent sales tax to fund transportation improvements. The cities had pushed for adding two free lanes in each direction.
On Monday, OCTA chief Darrell Johnson said the toll lane proposal had become so divisive that the agency was at risk of losing the confidence of voters who approved the tax.
Johnson urged board members to instead move forward with the plan to add the free lanes and defer any discussion on high-occupancy toll lanes until those free lanes are complete. Construction on the project is expected to begin in 2015 and last until 2020.
"It's clear that we do not have consensus on the role of managed lanes on the 405," Johnson said.
The vote comes as communities across the country are increasingly proposing toll lanes to reduce traffic congestion and raise revenue. The federal government has opened the door by providing money for some of the work, such as toll lane projects on the 110 and 10 freeways in Los Angeles County.
Orange County was a pioneer in constructing toll lanes and toll roads. Though the lanes on the 91 Freeway are considered a success, the county's vast network of toll roads has struggled for customers.
Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson, who sits on the OCTA board, said the vote doesn't preclude adding additional free or toll lanes in the future.
Once the bridges are widened, which will take several years, there will be room for four additional lanes, he said.
"Whether that's a toll lane, a free lane or we don't even deal with the lane for a while, it wouldn't matter," he said. "Those lanes aren't going to be usable by anyone for at least five years."
A team of Caltrans and OCTA staff will review the approved project along with each of the alternatives and state and federal requirements. Caltrans' district director for Orange County will make a final decision, probably by next summer.
Caltrans officials say a federal mandate requiring traffic on carpool lanes to be sped up in some areas, including the 405, is one reason they have considered toll lanes. Another is lack of funding for highway maintenance.
Diana Carey, a Westminster councilwoman who represents the six cities known as the Corridor Cities, said she was optimistic but wary that toll lanes might return in the future.
"We're certainly not going to say 'oh good, we won, yeah.' Because we really don't think we did win," she said. "We think this is going to come back."
Before the OCTA meeting began Monday morning, she and other city leaders joined Assemblyman Allan R. Mansoor (R-Costa Mesa) to denounce toll lanes.
Mansoor said he would introduce legislation next year to block toll lanes by either barring them from the 405 or the county or requiring an election to approve any pay-to-ride lanes. The group encouraged the board to add two free lanes in each direction.
While Supervisor John Moorlach, also an OCTA board member, favored that proposal, other directors said the OCTA lacks money to cover the additional costs.
"We can't do it. We just can't do it as it stands at this point in time," said OCTA board member and Tustin Mayor Al Murray.
paloma.esquivel@latimes.com
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