Group Proposes Ballot Measure to Ease Traffic

A state environmental coalition said Thursday that it will propose a ballot measure to designate 30% of the state’s share of taxes on vehicle sales for projects to relieve traffic congestion.

The proposal by the Planning and Conservation League, a Sacramento-based group, would earmark $810 million annually for road improvements, rail and bus services, transportation programs for seniors, children and the disabled, as well as environmental projects.

Improvements to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco would qualify for such funds, as would Irvine’s Great Park plan for the former El Toro Marine base.

“The governor and the Legislature made a list of the state’s most critical traffic congestion relief projects, and there are 159 of them,” said Jerry Meral, executive director of the conservation group. “The problem is: There isn’t enough money to complete all these projects, so we are using this initiative to make sure those and other projects are completed.”

Meral said the group’s initiative is still being drafted.

The Traffic Congestion Relief Act would use money that otherwise would go into the state’s general fund, said Jerry Meral, executive director of the league, which includes such environmental groups as Heal the Bay, the National Wildlife Federation and the National Audubon Society.

The money designated for environmental improvements would offset the effects of new transportation projects. The group has yet to submit the initiative to the state attorney general’s office for review but hopes to put the measure on the November 2002 ballot, Meral said.

Irvine Mayor Larry Agran, who is a director of the league, said his city stands to benefit greatly from the initiative. About $300 million would go to Irvine to fund four projects: shuttle service linking the Irvine Transit Center with Ontario International, John Wayne, Los Angeles International and other Southland airports; street and intersection improvements near the Costa Mesa Freeway and the Irvine Business Center; and $130 million for the Great Park, the city’s alternative to an international airport at the closed Marine air base.

Agran freely admits being an advocate for his city but says it makes sense to allocate a significant portion of income from the state congestion relief act to Irvine. Though he had pledged that no tax money would be spent on the Great Park, he said he was referring only to local taxes.

“We are the geographic center of transportation congestion for the county,” he said. “We have very, very major infrastructure problems, and that’s where the dollars ought to be spent.”

Advocates of an airport at El Toro were skeptical.

“I think this is a giant pork barrel initiative designed to put a smoke screen on the fact that Larry Agran cannot fund the Great Park without a tax increase,” said Dave Ellis, a consultant for the Airport Working Group.

“All this is a reallocation of existing resources,” he said. “If this is successful, I think you’re going to see a sales tax increase on new cars, because they’re going to have to backfill for this money.”

League officials said the initiative includes a provision that would allow the money to return to the general fund if the state experienced a budget crunch.

If the league succeeds in getting the initiative on the ballot, it would be the second measure to seek transportation money from state tax revenue.

In March, voters will be asked to approve a plan backed by Gov. Gray Davis and the Legislature to use gasoline-sales-tax dollars for transportation projects rather than as general revenue.