Tunnel Debate Takes Shape
By MATHEW PADILLA
Backers of a tunnel through the Cleveland National Forest see their plan as a revolutionary fix to the region’s growing traffic headaches.
The plan would create a link between Irvine and Corona via a tunnel through the Santa Ana Mountains, carrying everything from cars, trucks and trains to water, power and data lines.
For commuters from the Inland Empire to Orange County, the tunnel would be a longed-for alternative to the notoriously jammed Riverside (91) Freeway.
The tunnel, the brainchild of engineer and former Irvine mayor Bill Vardoulis, has piqued interest and gained support in the past year. Last month Mission Viejo officials voted to seek more details about the TriTunnel Express, as the project is known. That’s the closest a city has come to backing the tunnel.
So far, Corona Congressman Ken Calvert has emerged as the biggest tunnel proponent. He’s teamed with Rep. Gary Miller of Brea on a request for $50 million in federal money to study alternatives to the 91 freeway, including the tunnel.
Congressman Christopher Cox of Newport Beach backed the request but isn’t a co-sponsor. Cox’s office said the congressman hasn’t come out in support of the tunnel but believes it should be studied.
Others have expressed varying degrees of support for the project, which would cost about $3.5 billion to build. The Irvine Chamber of Commerce backs it. State Assemblyman Todd Spitzer has said the idea is worth looking at.
But the project still has its share of skeptics and critics and a formidable one at that: Donald Bren.
The owner of The Irvine Company has come out against the tunnel, saying the project could require road and other upgrades in Irvine that the Newport Beach-based developer could end up paying for.
It’s also conceivable that Bren, the county’s largest landowner, could be thinking about the value of homes and apartments on his land if the natural barrier with the Inland Empire is breached and OC loses a bit of its exclusivity.
Then there’s the legacy issue. In recent years, Bren has set aside half of the Irvine Ranch as open space. Building a tunnel on part of that land goes against his vision, sources said.
Bren’s opposition alone could be enough to kill the tunnel. Laguna Beach officials also have expressed opposition.
Beyond that, other players have expressed concerns or are awaiting more details.
They include Irvine Mayor Larry Agran and Tim Keenan, chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority. Without OCTA support, the tunnel won’t be built, sources say.
Then there are environmental groups. The San Francisco-based Sierra Club has taken a stance against any development in the Cleveland National Forest and appears to be leaning against the tunnel because it could bring development to some forest areas, according to spokesperson Bill Corcoran.
“It’s hard to know what the impacts are on an environmental level,” Corcoran said. “We continue to press for a better balance between jobs and housing in Riverside County.”
Tunnel backers tout their project as “green,” saying it would have less impact than widening roads or building a passage over the mountains. There’s even room for a light-rail train.
Vardoulis is undaunted. For the past year or so, he’s made tunnel presentations to the OCTA, water boards, city councils, county supervisors and just about anyone who’ll listen.
Even fence-sitters give Vardoulis high marks for persistence and organization.
“He’s carried this ball by himself,” OCTA’s Keenan said. Vardoulis and his supporters “have their ducks in a row, and they are making progress.”
Vardoulis recently made a tunnel presentation to the State Route 91 Advisory Committee, made up of members of the OCTA and the Riverside County Transportation Commission. The committee formed earlier this year to look at ways of easing congestion on the 91.
The tunnel is one of the options being looked at. Another option,advanced by the Irvine Co.,is adding a second deck to the freeway.
The tunnel’s multibillion-dollar price tag could be causing some to balk. Backers propose financing construction through bonds backed by tolls and leases for water and other utility lines.
“There are questions that still need to be answered,” OCTA’s Keenan said, especially about funding.
Keenan said he would like to see alternatives to the tunnel explored first.
Backing from the other side of the Santa Ana Mountains also is key. So far, support is running higher in western Riverside County than it is here. The tunnel would benefit thousands of residents there who commute to jobs in OC and Los Angeles.
“It’s also for people in Orange County,” Rep. Calvert said, “to get to the Ontario airport or get to the desert and for commerce.”
One challenge for tunnel backers is overcoming skepticism in Riverside that after years of inaction, OC really wants to solve the 91 problem, which impacts Inland Empire commuters more than those here.
Vardoulis said he is spearheading the tunnel to address the jobs and housing imbalance here.
“Ultimately, businesses will leave,” he said, if workers can’t buy homes here or have to drive two hours to get to their jobs.
Vardoulis envisions a set of three adjacent tunnels. Two of them would be for commuters, and the third would be for trucks and light rail. The tunnels also could carry water from Lake Mathews, along with power lines and other cables.
“Orange County needs water,” Vardoulis said.
The tunnel plan calls for a road that goes from Interstate 15 in Riverside, passes through the Santa Ana Mountains and stops at the Foothill (241) Toll Road and Laguna (133) Freeway.
Corona’s Calvert said he backs improving the 91. But even after adding lanes and other fixes, another corridor between Riverside and Orange counties is needed, he said.
Sooner or later a road will have to be built through or over the Santa Ana Mountains, or both, he said.
“The terrain is such that tunneling is part of any road construction that is going to be done,” Calvert said.
The Riverside County Transportation Commission is awaiting a sign from the State Route 91 Advisory Committee, said Roy Wilson, the commission’s vice chairman.
As for the OCTA, what to do about the proposed CenterLine light rail project is the priority for now. Irvine voters recently came out against having the rail line go through their city. But they also rejected a measure that would have cut any mention of light rail in the city’s general plan.
OCTA is set to re-evaluate CenterLine at a special meeting set for July 21. Options to be considered will include taking the line further northward or having a dedicated bus way instead of light rail.
Critics say the $1.4 billion CenterLine is less practical than the tunnel and doesn’t serve the same pressing need.
“We put a man on the moon, for crying out loud. We can certainly build 11 miles of tunnel,” said Jerry Amante, president of the Irvine Chamber of Commerce.
Amante, a lawyer, said the chamber was the first business group to come out in favor of the tunnel proposal. He’s also part of the TriTunnel Express Steering Group, a committee created by Vardoulis.
