Caltrans Considering More Toll Lanes In North Orange County
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — Orange County could become home to even more toll lanes over the next few years as a way to ease traffic.
A $2 billion project is already underway on the 405 Freeway to add toll lanes from the Los Angeles county line to the 73 Freeway, which is a toll freeway from Costa Mesa to San Juan Capistrano.
But Caltrans is considering expanding the toll freeway lanes throughout all of northern Orange County, in particular the 5, 55, 57 and 91 freeways, according to the Orange County Register.
"Express lanes have proven to be effective and do offer many benefits," said Lan Zhou, Caltrans' District 12 Deputy Director of Planning and Local Assistance, in a presentation to the Orange County Transportation Authority Monday.
With Southern California freeways choked by grinding traffic, toll lanes are becoming a more frequent solution on key arteries, such as the 110 Freeway through downtown LA and the 10 Freeway through the San Gabriel Valley. Last week, Metro began taking steps toward converting the carpool lanes on the 405 Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass into toll lanes.
Transportation officials say Southern California carpool lanes have become too congested. Federal law requires carpool lanes to move at a speed of 45 miles an hour or faster, but officials say 77 percent of Orange County freeways don't meet that standard.
It's not clear if Caltrans is exploring the idea of turning all carpool lanes or just some of them into toll lanes, but the change could be coming to Orange County as soon as 2028.