Unlike their counterparts in the Bay Area, many Southern California express lanes operate by more rigorous rules. 'I think once voters realize what's coming down at them, they're going to rebel and people are going to want to keep the freeways free.' 'The state of California and those in Sacramento are trying to implement a concerted agenda to have layers of taxes, fees and tolls to extract dollars out of everyday drivers,' he said. 'Better that the Orange County Transportation Authority do it than Caltrans, stated then-OCTA chair and Irvine city councilman Jeffrey Lalloway in a May 2015 post, referring to a July 2014 decision by the state that the widening must include an express lane, a decision which did not go down lightly with then-Huntington Beach Mayor Matthew Harper: 'It’s expected the project will begin construction by early next year with completion anticipated for 2023,' according to OCTA.ĭouble toll lanes did not come easily to this project. In addition to the $1.1 billion in local sales tax revenue and the $629 million TIFIA loan, the project received:

'The loan will be repaid using revenue from the new toll lanes, the agency said.'

' OCTA officials said the loan has a low interest rate that’s expected to save taxpayers about $300 million over its 35-year life, compared with traditional bond financing,' reports Bradley Zint for the Daily Pilot. Thanks to the passage of Measure M2 in 2006, all taxpayers in Orange County, the third-most populous in California, will pay for the $1.1 billion widening of the San Diego Freeway (I-405) to provide a general purpose lane in each direction for 16 miles from approximately SR-73 in Costa Mesa to I-605 in Seal Beach . DOT's Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program.

The express lane portion of Orange County Transportation Authority's $1.9 billion, I-405 Improvement Project (SR-73 to I-605) is a study, to some degree, of the difference between user fees and highway subsidies, a term I apply loosely to all general sales tax measures, and the usefulness of the U.S.

405 freeway express bus lane