A bill to block agencies from extending the 241 Toll Road is stalled in state Assembly

The coronavirus pandemic is holding up discussions on a bill that would block at the state level agencies from considering the extension of the 241 Toll Road south of Oso Parkway in Mission Viejo.

Sen. Pat Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) has announced the California State Assembly’s Transportation Committee won’t hear her bill for the 2020 legislative session that ends Aug. 31. The committee will only be discussing legislation related to COVID-19, Bates said.

The proposed bill had passed the State Senate in a 24-6 vote on June 26.

“Although I am disappointed that there is not enough time in the 2020 legislative session to hear SB 1373 and other bills pending in the Assembly, it is understandable that the Legislature must focus on immediate public health, public safety and economic needs,” Bates said in a press release.

Bates has said her bill would codify the March agreement between the Transportation Corridor Agencies, the Orange County Transportation Authority and Caltrans that specified the 241 Toll Road will continue to end where it does now at Oso Parkway; instead, Los Patrones Parkway will connect to Avenida La Pata south of the Prima Deshecha Landfill to help with traffic needs in the area.

But board members for the Transportation Corridor Agencies – which oversees the county’s toll roads – have said Bates’ bill could weaken local control by restricting the agency’s ability to plan and build for the future. The TCA has officially opposed the bill.

Bates said she plans on introducing a new version of the bill next year.

Source: Orange County Register