San Bernardino County Sun (http://www.sbsun.com) Toll lanes approved for the 10 Freeway across San Bernardino County By Imran Ghori, The Press-Enterprise Wednesday, July 12, 2017 San Bernardino County will make its first foray into toll lanes. A 33-mile corridor will be built on the 10 Freeway and span much of the county, transportation officials decided Wednesday, July 12. The $1.8-billion project would add two toll lanes from the Los Angeles County line at Montclair east to Redlands. An auxiliary lane for traffic to weave in and out at ramps also will be added at various points along the general-purpose lanes. Construction, which would be split into two stages, is expected to start in late 2018. The first segment, from the county line to the 15 Freeway, is expected to be finished by 2022. The rest would begin in 2021 and take three years to complete. Expanding the 10 Freeway corridor, which is heavily used by commuters and trucks hauling cargo to the rest of the country, has long been a top priority of the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority. The decision to use toll lanes has been controversial with some residents and members of the governing board. The board — made up of elected officials from the county and its cities — voted 16 to 2 Wednesday, July 12, to approve an environmental report and to create the toll lanes. Transportation officials say the project will bring a faster alternative for commuters who choose to pay the new tolls. And, by diverting that traffic onto two new lanes, it would also ease congestion on the general lanes, said Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner, president of the transportation board. “The only way to increase the (freeway) capacity is through express lanes,” he said, noting the project will be paid for by future toll proceeds. Most other Southern California counties have added toll lanes to their freeways. Wapner said that not doing so in San Bernardino County could create bottlenecks when the lanes narrow as vehicles enter the county. Chino City Councilwoman Eunice Ulloa and County Supervisor Josie Gonzales were the two no votes. Each cited their opposition to asking motorists to pay tolls. “I do not have a high-wage-earning population,” Gonzales said of her district, which includes San Bernardino, Rialto and Colton. “I cannot in good conscience impose on my residents something I feel they will not be able to afford to enjoy without further economic impacts.” San Bernardino County Supervisor Robert Lovingood called it a hard decision but said that if they don’t go forward, the result would be “gridlock” on the freeway. About a dozen residents spoke against toll lanes. Some held signs and called the board a “shadow government” and its members traitors. Tressy Capps, a Fontana resident who filed a lawsuit seeking to block the project, accused the agency of rushing the process. She said the agency did not do enough to inform residents. As an example, she cited a public notice that made no mention of “toll” or “express” lanes. The flier describes it as the “Interstate 10 corridor project” with new freeway lanes, though public reports on the project do include the words. “The San Bernardino County taxpayers deserve better,” Capps said. Paula Beauchamp, project delivery director for the agency, said it has done an extensive public outreach program with more than 140 meetings informing residents of the toll lanes proposal. Others, including representatives of a laborers union and business associations, spoke in favor of the project and said it’s badly needed to ease congestion. “I think you’re going to find that people out there are going to be delighted to have the option to move their businesses and goods more efficiently,” said Carole Beswick, president of Inland Action, a nonprofit group made up of business and community leaders. The route is one of the region’s most widely used, with about 263,000 vehicles and more than 20,000 commercial trucks a day, the agency reports. By 2045, the number of vehicles is expected to grow to 350,000 a day. The agency’s next steps will be to begin buying property along the freeway needed for its widening and to choose a contractor to handle final design and construction. The agency expects to rebuild or modify several ramps, bridges and interchanges along the route. The project encompasses the 10 Freeway from the Monte Vista Avenue exit in Montclair to Ford Street in Redlands. A small portion — from California Street to Ford Street in Redlands — would only have one toll lane in each direction, though the majority of the project would have two. URL: http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20170712/toll-lanes-approved-for-the-10-freeway-across-san-bernardino-county © 2017 San Bernardino County Sun (http://www.sbsun.com) San Bernardino County Sun (http://www.sbsun.com) Hard Summer music festival approved for Glen Helen Amphitheater amid safety concerns By Joe Nelson, The Sun Wednesday, July 12, 2017 SAN BERNARDINO >> The Hard Summer Music Festival, an electronic dance music rave with a track record of fatal attendee drug overdoses, is coming to the Glen Helen Amphitheater in Devore. “The county has agreed to allow Live Nation to hold the Hard Summer Music Festival at the Glen Helen Amphitheater,” county spokeswoman Felisa Cardona said. She said in an email Wednesday that Live Nation will be hosting a yet-to-be-scheduled community meeting to provide information to neighboring residents and answer any questions they may have. Representatives for Live Nation and Hard Summer event organizers did not respond Wednesday to repeated requests for additional information about the community meeting, and why the sudden move to Devore from the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. • Photos: Day 1 of the 2016 Hard Summer Music Festival at Auto Club Speedway According to the festival’s website, the event is scheduled for Aug. 5 and 6, featuring DJ Snake, Rae Sremmurd and Zed’s Dead on Aug. 5 and Snoop Dogg, Dog Blood, BassNectar and Migos on Aug. 6. Three people died of drug overdoses after attending last July’s Hard Summer event at the Auto Club Speedway, bringing the total number of people who died at the festival since 2013 to six. San Bernardino County Supervisor Janice Rutherford, who unsuccessfully tried to get the county to ban raves at the amphitheater following the deaths of two Nocturnal Wonderland attendees and more than 100 resident complaints, pushed even harder following the overdose deaths last July of Hard Summer attendees Derek Lee, 22, of San Francisco, Alyssa Dominguez, 21, of San Diego and Roxanne Ngo, 22, of Chino Hills. Rutherford’s concerns, however, did not dissuade her colleagues on the board from prohibiting the events outright due to the economic benefits they bring. Instead, a rave task force was formed. And now the Hard Summer Music Festival is coming to Glen Helen, and Rutherford could not help but note the irony in a telephone interview Wednesday. “I am at least pleased they agreed to conclude their event at 11 p.m. instead of going into the wee hours of the morning,” said Rutherford, noting that it was one of the biggest complaints she fielded from Devore Heights residents regarding the Nocturnal Wonderland raves held at the venue. Residents also have complained about traffic, loitering, rampant drug use and public indecency the raves tend to draw to their neighborhood. During Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Rutherford suggested that Live Nation, which leases the amphitheater, hold the community meeting and field questions from residents. She also recommended that representatives from Live Nation consult with the county’s rave task force about possibly implementing any recommendations into the security plan Live Nation is currently working on with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. “I’m very concerned that this goes smoothly and our residents there are taken care of,” Rutherford said during Tuesday’s board meeting. Sheriff’s Lt. Sarkis Ohannessian said in an email Wednesday that department staff and representatives from Live Nation have not ironed out any details as yet on the security plan. “The safety and health of all the attendees are our top priority, and the number of staff on our side and medical side are a big part of any agreement that gets approved,” Ohannessian said. The deaths last year of Lee, Dominguez and Ngo were among six that occurred since 2013 at the Hard Summer festival, which has bounced from one location to another over the last four years. Most of the deaths were the result of overdoses of the drug Ecstasy. Ecstasy, commonly referred to as “Molly,” the “hug drug” or the “rave drug,” is a psychoactive narcotic that produces intense feelings of euphoria and distorted sensory and time perception. Jonathan Reyes, 21, of Rosemead died after taking Ecstasy at the Hard Summer festival in 2013 at Los Angeles State Historical Park. In August 2015, Katie Dix, 19, of Camarillo and Tracy Nguyen, 18, of West Covina died of drug overdoses after attending the event at Fairplex in Pomona. The county’s rave task force was unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors last September in an effort to curb undesired conduct, noise and traffic associated with raves and other events at the amphitheater. It has been working on a list of recommendations to the Board of Supervisors and has met three times since December, and is expected to make its recommendations to county supervisors at an upcoming meeting, Cardona said. In a statement Tuesday, Board of Supervisors Chairman Robert Lovingood noted the efforts being made by the task force, Live Nation and the Sheriff’s Department.