Local News in Brief : Countywide : Tollway Agencies Want to Remain Separate

The agencies building three south Orange County tollways voted Thursday to oppose efforts to merge them with the county’s transit district and Transportation Commission.

The boards of the tollway authorities cited legal opinions that a merger would jeopardize the sale of bonds to finance construction of the San Joaquin Hills, Eastern and Foothill tollway projects.

Last Monday, the Orange County Transportation Commission voted to discuss drafts of proposed legislation with agencies that are merger candidates, such as the Orange County Transit District.

But the Transportation Commission also agreed Monday to leave the tollway authorities out of the discussions if counsel hired to advise the agencies on bond financing made a finding that such legislation would adversely affect bond sales.

The required finding was delivered to the tollway authorities this week.

Members of the authorities, who are mostly council members from cities that belong to the agencies, were leaning against the proposed merger anyway. City officials throughout the county have expressed fears that a consolidated transportation super-agency would be dominated by the Board of Supervisors, thus diluting the cities’ ability to affect transportation planning and funding decisions.

The tollways are scheduled to be built in the 1990s, mostly with money from developer fees and revenue bonds.