Chula Vista mayor proposes SANDAG drop toll on State Route 125

Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas is pushing to turn South County’s only toll road into a free highway.

South Bay Expressway, which opened in 2007, is the 10-mile stretch of State Route 125 that runs from State Route 905 in Otay Mesa to State Route 54 in Spring Valley and sees about 54,000 drivers daily. Tolls range from 50 cents to $3.50 for motorists.

The San Diego Association of Governments, the county’s lead transportation planning agency, has operated the road since it acquired it in 2011 for $341.5 million, about one-third of what a private consortium spent to build it, according to the agency.

In 2017, SANDAG refinanced its outstanding loans and, as of October 2020, owed about $182 million, according to its November 2020 debt overview report. Toll revenue is used to repay the loans and the costs of daily operations and maintenance.

SANDAG must pay off that debt by 2042, but Salas said she wants it to be paid by 2027.

Salas said Chula Vista residents who commute for work and school are the most affected by the toll road and that it has hindered businesses from opening shop in the city.

“To us, it’s a matter of the ability for us to, in South Bay, really flourish economically and to attract those companies that we want to provide the jobs that we need,” she said. “I think that this is a good thing to get rid of — this toll — sooner rather than later.”

With unanimous support from the Chula Vista City Council, Salas asked the SANDAG board of directors, of which she is a member, to consider a financial plan to retire the debt by 2027.

At a SANDAG meeting late last month, she suggested the agency take advantage of an opportunity to refinance once more in 2027. Should SANDAG refinance, there would be about a $40 million gap to pay off the remaining balance, said Andre Douzdjian, the chief financial officer with SANDAG.

“I don’t like debt. I like to pay off debt,” said Douzdjian. “I come back to the board and refinance as much as I can and that would be the goal but we’re not there yet.”

The hope, said Douzdjian, is to build reserves, especially after revenues dropped amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Since SANDAG took over the toll road, there was about a 6 percent annual growth, but in 2020, revenues dropped by about 25 percent, he said. To date, the agency has about $80 million in South Bay Expressway reserves, he added.

Salas’ proposal received mixed reviews from the SANDAG board. Terry Gaasterland, a Del Mar councilmember, supported her request.

“Mayor, you are defending not only the people who live and work within your city, but your students,” she said during the meeting. “They have negative income. They’re paying to go to school, they’re paying their tuition and they too are affected by this toll, especially when they live in your region.”

Santee Mayor John Minto cautioned that removing the toll could potentially increase traffic congestion in East County, saying that “one thing always leads to another.”

Coronado Councilmember Bill Sandke added that if a toll removal is considered, “We better do this deliberately with some data points and studies and some more research background on this.”

Catherine Blakespear, SANDAG chairperson and mayor of Encinitas, said the issue involves looking at the budget more closely, which the board agreed to do so at a future meeting.

“It seems like there are policy considerations and GHG (greenhouse gas) considerations and equity considerations and financial considerations. And so, we need, you know, that budget,” she said.