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City Ponders Cross Valley Connector Toll

Editor’s Note: This article was originally printed as an April Fool’s joke. It is purely satire.

A new phone survey is underway posing the question whether or not Santa Clarita constituents would approve paying a toll to use the Cross Valley Connector. According to City staff, the move would generate between $3 to 5 million in annual revenue.

During the two-minute survey, a City representative explains that the toll station would exist at the eastern side of the Bouquet Canyon Road/Newhall Ranch Road intersection and charge $5 per entrance.


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“We’re thinking eight booths – four for entering and four for exiting” said Assistant City Engineer Curtis Nay. “It will be pretty enforced. For example, the Connector’s halfway point on Center Pointe Parkway will be restricted to law enforcement. That will cut down on cheaters coming from the Sierra Highway end and evading the toll.”

Prospective hours of operation are between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. and between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. The station would be open all day on Saturday and Sunday.

“The phone survey is just so we can gauge initial reaction,” said City spokeswoman Gail Ortiz. “From what I can tell you, so far most Santa Clarita residents have no problem with it.”

According to City officials, the toll station would offset the tax revenue lost to Gov. Jerry Brown’s potential spending cuts to the state budget. On Tuesday, GOP lawmakers balked at the governor’s plan to extend current taxes, rejecting his proposal to put the measure up to voters for a special election.

As a result, analysts foresee Brown cutting even more programs in order to clear the state’s $26 billion deficit. Two of those programs include California’s enterprise zones and redevelopment agencies, both of which have flourished in Santa Clarita.

According to the California Association of Enterprise Zones, several businesses are expected to leave the state for greener pastures without the tax incentives offered by the program. New businesses would be discouraged from opening as well.

To add insult to injury, Old Town Newhall’s overhaul would be left in the dust with redevelopment agencies out the window, forcing the City to look for alternative sources of funding.

Like a toll for using one of Santa Clarita’s most popular roads.

“We’re not doing anything here but proposing a value on driving through our beautiful city,” said City Manager Ken Pulskamp. “People pay $5 every day to drive into San Francisco over the blue waters of the bay. I think people are more than willing to pay that amount to experience the Cross Valley Connector and the sights of the Santa Clara River.”

Editor’s Note: This story is 100 percent fabricated, because, well, it’s April Fool’s Day and we in the news room like to have fun. Hope you at least got a chortle out of it.

City Ponders Cross Valley Connector Toll

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