241/91 Express Lanes Connector Project Moving Forward
In a major milestone for TCA, the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agencies Board approved a “path forward” that is the first step in constructing a tolled connector between the 241 Toll Road and the 91 Express Lanes. This accomplishment is in partnership with the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), the Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).
The Term Sheet sets the stage for much-needed traffic relief as soon as possible, while ensuring the project integrates smoothly – and supports – other projects planned in both Orange and Riverside counties. The Term Sheet is scheduled to be considered by the OCTA board later this month and the RCTC board will consider the item in November. Caltrans District 12 in Orange County and District 8 in Riverside County have agreed to the path forward for the project.
Pending OCTA and RCTC board approvals, this lays the groundwork for investing approximately $600 million in near-term traffic relief solutions, including:
- A direct connector from the eastbound 91 Express Lanes to the northbound I-15 in Riverside County.
- The State Route (SR) 91 Corridor Operations Project (COP), which adds awestbound general-purpose lane between Green River Road and SR 241.
- SR 91/SR 71 Interchange Improvements, which includes a new two-lane directconnector from eastbound SR 91 to northbound SR 71 and realigns the existingGreen River Road to connect to northbound SR 71 and eastbound SR 91.
- The SR 241 / 91 Express Lanes Connector
Spelled out in the term sheet, TCA will complete the environmental and final design phases of the project and will fund the 241/91 Express Connector construction, TCA will utilize Caltrans to administer the construction of the project, and OCTA/RCTC will operate the connector toll point to integrate it with the 91 Express Lanes system. Construction of the tolled connector would begin in early 2023 and take approximately two years.
Contracts Approved
At the F/ETCA and SJHTCA board meeting, both boards voted to approve two contracts needed for toll operations.
- As part of the toll violation process, TCA utilizes contracted services to obtain registered owner information lookups for vehicles from out of state. The boards approved a contract with Verra Mobility for this task for a not-to-exceed amount of $1.1 million for a three years base period plus two one-year options.
- TCA periodically sends customer accounts correspondence such as account update reminders, statements and other related documents several times annually. In addition TCA is required to provide notice of violations by mail when a motorist uses the toll roads but fails to pay the toll amount due. Given the significant volume of mailing, utilization of mail houses services is required. The boards voted to authorize two one-year options to extend an existing contract with QuestMark to perform this work. The contract is not-to-exceed $900,000 through June 2022.
