by Jeff Redondo
Jeff Redondo is the Executive Director Chula Vistans for a Better Tomorrow.
I don’t know about you but I usually drive on the 125 freeway at least one a week. Living in the east side of Chula Vista for over seven years it is a convenient way to get around when you need to get from Otay Ranch to San Miguel Ranch in a hurry. Obviously, it doesn’t come without costs.
Everytime someone wants to go from Mater Dei Catholic High School to the 54 freeway, it costs $4.50. Annually it costs more than $1,000 to just to drive on a road that should be being maintained by the state. In this economy with high inflation $1,000 is a lot for a family in Chula Vista to pay in just driving on roads.
SANDAG says annual toll revenues average over $40 million, which means Chula Vista residents and businesses pay more than $30 million of the tolls and fines yearly. That’s means we (the residents of Chula Vista) are paying 75% of the tolls….is that right?
I know what your thinking…just take the 805! As anyone knows that has lived in Chula Vista for any amount of time the traffic on the 805 is getting worse and worse. More than likely, knowing the State of California, there no plans to expand the 805 anytime soon. Therefore the fastest way to get to Downtown San Diego is the 125.
Usually the Mayor of Chula Vista sits on SANDAG to represent the entire city but due to politics our mayor doesn’t sit on this important committee. Three Councilmembers, one whose district doesn’t even include the 125 toll road and one who wasn’t even elected, sit on SADAG. Additionally, all these Councilmembers are from the same polticial party — like 95% of the rest of the SANDAG board.
Mind you SANDAG has had issues with the 125 and the tolls. They were hit with a class action lawsuit over their flawed toll collection system and had to settle with thousands of drivers. Again a majority of these are residents of Chula Vista. Can we truly trust SANDAG to handle our money correctly when they can’t even collecting tolls correctly?
Whoever is currently representing Chula Vista on SANDAG, obviously, is not representing the true interests of Chula Vista otherwise they would be immediately working to get rid of the tolls. When you vote make sure you bring your $1,000 to give SANDAG unless you vote for people that are truly interested in getting rid of a hardship for the citizens of Chula Vista.
