I ended up on this toll road from the Birch road exit unintentionally while driving in this area at…read morenight. While I live in San Diego, I had never been to this area before and I unwittingly trusted my navigation app onto the toll road, not realizing my mistake until it was too late. At night, the signage is especially unclear but even on a good day, because of the design of the on-ramp and exit, you are left in an unfortunate situation of being forced on to a toll road, and in my case, in the "fast track" lane, without realizing it. Furthermore, because of the dividers between the lanes, you would be unable to get over to the cash/credit machine once you'd realized the mistake. Therefore, you are left with the choice to continue or back up on an active roadway to use the other lane, which I actually saw when getting off the toll road on the first exit available to me.
The customer service staff will tell you that the signage is very obvious however, there are a few factors working against this and trying to figure this all out at night doesn't help. In California, we are used to having the left lane be the HOV lane so having that be the cash/credit lane means solo drivers will favor the right lane and end up in the fast track lane with no way to pay by mistake. Secondly this is a 90 degree turn from a restricted right turn lane, so technically you're forced onto the toll road even if you realize the mistake as you're rounding the corner, but the big sign that goes over the road is a few hundred feet down the road so again, by the time you notice it is too late. Finally, other toll roads usually have stopper bars and a manned booth that make it more obvious but also physically obstruct entry onto the road without paying, so in my case I was unsure at the time whether I had even made a mistake as I was let on to the road. The cash credit kiosk is an otherwise discreet building with no lights and no barrier, so for me, seeing it in my rear view mirror I assumed it was a maintenance building and that the real toll road entrance was further down the road. I exited at the first exit available and found a different route to my destination that didn't involve toll roads.
So in the end the fine that you are left with a fine that is 42.50, which was a tank of gas a few months ago, but now that gas is even more expensive that money is even more important. With the threat of having your registration put on hold this has the potential to be a stressful and expensive punishment for an honest mistake.
I'm giving two stars because at least I was able to call and square things away, I did end up on the toll road so I would have been willing to pay the 2.50 but settled for a reduced fee. The point stands that if it had been
more obvious or the option was available to me before I was aware I was using a toll road I would have chosen not to use it at all and
took another route.
Overall it feels that the design of this toll road system and the violations and consequences seems predatory and dishonest and that these toll roads, like speed cameras, make the most of their money from these fines and not from the actual toll. As much as they make claim that the signage is clear, the on ramp and signage is vague enough to create a dangerous situation where people are backing up on an active roadway to avoid the toll road. I saw this wit my own eyes and I'm sure they can find it on their traffic cameras. I have no problem paying for the use of a toll road I know I am using but in the future I will avoid this area.