The 91 in Corona got some new "Express Lanes" in March, and more are coming to the area. The Press-Enterprise reports that within a decade, four additional toll corridors could be added.
Toll lanes are becoming a national trend as a way to pay for freeway improvements and to manage congestion. They're easier to build because they're financed by tolls, but what about the people who can't afford the tolls? They get stuck in gridlock while a perfectly good lane sits next to them, empty.
The Riverside County Transportation Commission wants to spend $471 million on the 15 freeway, from Caljalco Road south of Corona to the 60 freeway, to add two extra lanes in each direction. Construction is slated to start early next year and the lanes will open in 2020.
Proponents of the toll roads say they're a good way to manage traffic, but are they really? Martin Wachs, a professor emeritus of urban planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs said:
“The only way to ensure that traffic is moving more swiftly is to charge people for it. It can always reduce congestion because you can raise the price higher and higher until some people choose not to use it.”
What kind of evil plan is that?! Punishing people to drive? This is all part of the bigger plan to get Californians of their cars.
Click here to read more about the plans at the Press-Enterprise.