Taking toll.

More freeways? Added lanes? How to pay for them? These are questions that arise from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ambitious plan to upgrade and modernize the state's infrastructure. Among the concepts under discussion are toll roads. So the Business Journal asks:

What do you think of toll roads?

Sieve Hazen

Partner, Corporate Finance Davis Wright Tremaine LLP 

I think they are a great thing--I like the fact that they're fast, and I don't mind paying. In fact, the times I've used them I've considered it to be a bargain. I do like the idea of tollways in L.A. simply because I don't think we're seeing enough infrastructure finance going on in California and, as a result, our highways are not doing well. If the only way to improve them is to have them built by private contractors, what's the difference between that and paying more taxes to Sacramento? In the downtown slot, where a lot of commuting occurs between the east and west, you just couldn't build another freeway unless you build another level on it, and I don't see it as a realistic thing to occur.

Brian Cullen 

Director

Chanin Capital Partners

I would not be in favor of toll roads unless I saw a plan. If I wasn't comfortable with where the money was going, and to the extent that it would dramatically increase congestion on side streets just because someone doesn't want to pay a dollar to get on, I would not be in favor of it. The fact stands that either we need more supply because people aren't going to stop going to work, or we build freeways on top of one another. I would be in favor of building a freeway on top of the 405 and I would be happy to fund that. I would be in support of toll roads if I were comfortable with the financing plan to utilize proceeds to build better roads and more freeways to ultimately lower congestion.

Stephen Wolf 

Design Engineer

Engineers Without Borders 

Personally, I would rather they just increased taxes. Otherwise everyone will resort to taking local roads to avoid toll freeways. That will be a disaster because then local roads will get clogged and freeways will still remain as crowded as ever. I like the system where I am not paying anything at all on the roads. But if I had to, I would want to know where all that money is going.

Greg Hernandez

Executive Vice President of Operations

Hamburger Hamlet

I commute four days a week, from south Orange County all the way to Santa Monica Boulevard, so I'm a professional commuter. The Orange County toll roads save you 25 percent to 50 percent of the time that you would normally take in commuting on the freeway. I would be in favor of that in Los Angeles, but on the assumption they would be as efficient of a toll road system as the one in Orange County. A toll is a benefit, and I would be very much in favor of that because time is the only thing you can't buy with money. If I'm able to save time by spending money, to me, that would be worth it. There is a saying: "You can trade your time for money, but you can't trade your money for time." But a toll road allows you to beat that. For a nominal fee, I could get back some time.

Jack McConaghy

Los Angeles Managing Partner

Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz LLP

It seems to me that we built a great freeway system, but we don't seem to be able to afford it today for reasons I don't understand. So if the only way to expand on what we have is through toll freeways, and even though I don't particularly like them, they may be a necessity of the future. It would probably increase capacity overall, and that's good. Plus it seems that many people opt for the free route, so there is some advantage for those who are working and are able to pay a small amount and take a less crowded freeway.