  State Route 261 Toll | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Transportation Corridor | ||||
 SR 261 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byCaltrans andTCA | ||||
| Length | 6.2 mi[1] (10.0 km) | |||
| Existed | 1991[2]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end | Walnut Avenue andJamboree Road inIrvine | |||
| North end |   SR 241 Toll nearOrange | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | California | |||
| Counties | Orange | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
State Route 261 (SR 261) is astate highway that forms part of theEastern Transportation Corridor toll road system inOrange County, California that is operated by theTransportation Corridor Agencies. It runs from Walnut Avenue andJamboree Road inIrvine north toSR 241. North of this interchange, SR 241 becomes part of the Eastern Transportation Corridor. SR 261 parallels Jamboree Road for its entire length. SR 261 does not directly connect withI-5 in Irvine, asJamboree Road and other streets must be used to make the connection.
The southern end of SR 261 is inIrvine, splitting fromJamboree Road near Walnut Avenue, while Jamboree continues south as a locally maintained divided highway to Barranca Parkway. SR 261 then runs north parallel to Jamboree Road towards Santiago Canyon Road (CR S18) in the city ofOrange nearIrvine Lake. While Jamboree Road has an interchange withI-5, SR 261 does not and instead passes underneath the interstate without any connecting ramps. The toll road then continues next toThe Market Place, an outdoor shopping center straddling the border of Irvine andTustin, before going through a toll plaza after the Irvine Boulevard interchange. Following this is the Portola Parkway exit, after which SR 261 passes through hilly, wilderness terrain alongside the Irvine Village of Orchard Hills to the east and the border withTustin to the west. After the final exit with Santiago Canyon Road in Orange, SR 261 merges withSR 241, which continues north towardsSR 91.[3]
SR 261 is part of theCalifornia Freeway and Expressway System,[4] and is part of theNational Highway System,[5] a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by theFederal Highway Administration.[6]
 State Route 231 | |
|---|---|
| Location | Irvine-Anaheim (1988-1996) |
| Existed | 1988–1996 |
From 1965 to 1972, a segment of present-daySR 162 was defined as SR 261.[7]
TheCalifornia State Legislature added SR 231 to the state highway system in 1988; it was a route from I-5 around the Tustin–Irvine boundary to SR 91.[8] In 1991, the Legislature renumbered part of SR 231 to be SR 261.[9] Five years later, SR 231 was renumbered to SR 241, and the southern terminus with I-5 was changed to become Walnut Avenue.[10]
SR 261 employs abarrier toll system, where drivers are charged flat-rate tolls based on what particular toll booths they pass through. Since May 13, 2014, the road has been using an all-electronic,open road tolling system.[11] And on October 2, 2019, thelicense plate tolling program, under the brand name "ExpressAccount", was discontinued.[12] Drivers may still pay using theFasTrak electronic toll collection device, or via a one time payment online 5 days before or after their trip on the toll road.[13] Drivers who do not pay after 5 days will be assessed an additional toll violation penalty.[14]
There is one mainline toll gantry at Irvine Ranch. As of July 2024[update], the gantry uses avariable pricing scheme based on the time of day for FasTrak users (it is not trulycongestion priced because toll rates come from a preset schedule and are not based on actual congestion); non-FasTrak drivers must pay the $3.46 maximum toll regardless of the day and time. Tolls are also collected at a flat rate at selected on-and off-ramps: Irvine Boulevard's northbound onramp ($2.79), northbound offramp ($2.20), and southbound onramp ($2.20); and Portola Parkway ($2.79, free on the northbound offramp).[15]
The entire route is inOrange County.
| Location | mi [16][17][18][19] | km | Exit [16] | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irvine | 0.00 | 0.00 | – | Jamboree Road south | Continuation beyond Walnut Avenue |
| 1 | Walnut Avenue / Edinger Avenue | Southern terminus | |||
| 0.24 | 0.39 | – |   Jamboree Road toI-5 | Northbound exit and southbound entrance; last free northbound exit before toll road begins | |
| 1.64 | 2.64 | 2 | Irvine Boulevard | Tolled northbound exit and all entrances | |
| Irvine Ranch toll gantry | |||||
| 2.85 | 4.59 | 3 | Portola Parkway | Tolled southbound exit and all entrances | |
| Orange | 6.04 | 9.72 | 6A |   Santiago Canyon Road (CR S18) / Chapman Avenue (CR S25) toSR 241 Toll south | Northbound exit and southbound entrance; SR 241 exit 33 |
| 6.21 | 9.99 | 6B |  SR 241 Toll north (Eastern Transportation Corridor) | Northern terminus; SR 241 south exit 32 | |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
