HOW WAS THIS ROUTE SELECTED? ———————————————————

Very carefully. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Highway Administration, Caltrans and Camp Pendleton were all involved in selecting the route. Dozens of options were considered and whittled down based on the traffic relief each could provide, environmental impact and displacement of homes and businesses. Six toll road alternatives and two non toll road alternatives were extensively analyzed. The route that was selected provides the most traffic relief, requires no removal of homes and doesn't interfere with national security at nearby Camp Pendleton.

What if we don't build it? Without Foothill South, the 241 would be similar to the dead-end 710 Freeway, and the 5 Freeway will be like 91 Freeway with stop-and-go traffic, creating more air pollution and wasting your time. The 241 was always designed to connect to the 5. The 67-mile toll road system, with a completed Foothill South, is part of all long-range plans for the Orange County transportation network.

What’s Camp Pendleton’s position? In 1988, the Marine Corps agreed that one potential alignment of the proposed project could be evaluated on Camp Pendleton as long as it met certain criteria, the most important of which was that any on-Base segment must be as close to the northern Base boundary as possible and must not impact the Marine Corps mission or interfere with Camp Pendleton’s operational flexibility. TCA’s currently proposed alignment meets the Marine Corps criteria.

Over the years, project opponents have misrepresented a 2002 letter, signed by then Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Jones. (Read the 2002 letter)

General Jones’ letter re-emphasizes the Marine Corps’ longstanding position on any alignment on the Base. What triggered the letter was information that the Commandant received that the Environmental Protection Agency and others agencies were seeking to study additional alignments further onto the Base, instead of the one meeting the criteria established by the Marine Corps in 1988.

Project opponents have taken the General’s comment that states; “Frankly, my preference is that the proposed toll road not be constructed on or near Camp Pendleton” out of context and failed to complete the Generals’ statement where he makes clear that….”Nonetheless, the Marine Corps made a commitment in 1988 to support one road alignment on Camp Pendleton, and I will honor that commitment.” The Generals’ letter continues; “The Marine Corps has determined that the impact on our mission requirements from the “Far East” alignment is acceptable.” It is the “Far East” alignment that TCA is pursuing.

How much is your time worth? What if you could reduce your drive from 60 minutes to a mere 15? With the completion of the 241, the trip from the San Diego border to Oso Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita is expected to only take about 15 minutes.

Rancho Mission Viejo soon to be built. More people are coming to South Orange County. The houses, more than 14,000 of them, are already being built. If there is nothing done to relieve traffic, new cars will be flooding residential areas. If the road is not built, drivers will have to go through San Clemente, Ladera Ranch, Mission Viejo or San Juan Capistrano to get to the freeways.

A smog nightmare. Stop-and-go traffic contributes to air pollution. Gas mileage goes way down, no matter what hybrid you're driving. All that hard work for the environment goes down the drain if we can't get cars up to speed and moving smoothly.

Interstate 5, July 24, 2008

I heard we could widen the 5. Widening the 5 would cost more than $2.4 billion, which the state does not have. Plus, widening the 5 would require bulldozing 800 homes and 300 businesses to make way for a wider freeway. And it still wouldn't give drivers an alternative route which is one of the reasons the 241 is essential. When fires shut down the I-5 in October 2007, San Diego evacuees were stuck until it reopened. The 241 would have given them another escape route. Click here to read the LA Times analysis of an I-5 widening study touted by Foothill-South opponents.

241 Fast Facts

The project has been on the Orange County Master Plan of Arterial Highways since 1981.

Six toll road alternatives and two non-toll road alternatives were analyzed in the draft environmental document, which was circulated for public review in 2004. This 241 extension was the least damaging to people and wildlife.