OC to Caltrans: No Toll Roads on 405!

On Friday, Caltrans officials announced they planned to convert existing car-pool lanes on Orange County's stretch of the 405 Freeway into toll lanes. The announcement was immediately denounced by OC supervisors, mayors and councilmembers of cities near the 405, and the Orange County Transportation Authority, all depicting it as a land grab by Sacramento. Caltrans claims such a move will alleviate traffic on the notoriously congested 14-mile stretch in OC; OC officials say it won't do any good and in fact worsen traffic. Even worse, Caltrans plans to use a half-cent OC transportation tax to fund their project. Expect lawsuits and angry town hall meetings to begin soon.