The decades-long debate over a toll road that would connect an Orange County highway to the Interstate 5 by cutting through San Onofre Beach State Park took a new turn this month.
The California Coastal Commission denied the 16-mile road extension because it violates state laws enacted to protect the coast from overdevelopment, said Mark Delaplaine, Coastal Commission staff manager.
Representatives of the Surfrider Foundation, one of the groups opposed to the construction, say the road would ruin one of Southern California’s last undeveloped watersheds in exchange for an easier commute on the Interstate 5 and connecting roads.
There is also fear that the project could affect wave formation at Trestles Beach near the mouth of San Mateo Creek, a spot known for good waves among local surfers.
“There were a very large number of effects ” effects on the habitat, the state park, surfing, water quality, wetlands, campground [and] archeological resources,” Delaplaine said.
The project would also affect the habitat of the endangered Pacific pocket mouse, according to a staff report.
The commission rejected the project Wednesday, Feb. 6, at a meeting attended by about 3,000 people at the Del Mar Fair Grounds, according to reports.
The commission’s decision, however, isn’t the last on the issue, he said.
The Transportation Corridor Agencies, based in Orange County, appealed the commission’s decision to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, who can overturn the commission’s decision, he said. In the meantime, the TCA is working to get several other building permits from other agencies, officials said.
The proposed toll road would connect the end of the current Toll Road 241 at Oso Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita, Orange County, to the I-5 at Camp Pendleton. TCA spokeswoman Jennifer Seaton said that the road would relieve traffic congestion along the I-5, adding that its construction would provide about 20,000 jobs over the next five years.
A team of agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers and Federal Highway Administration, among others, settled on the proposed route through the park because it relieves the most traffic congestion while affecting the fewest businesses and homes in the region, she said.
“The main benefit is for commuters,” she said. “If the [interstate] 5 is shut [down], there’s no alternate route. If 241 was finished it would provide an alternate route,”
The road could cost the TCA about $1 billion, she said. That’s money the TCA wants to recover through tolls over the next 30 to 40 years before completely handing the road over to the state as a freeway, she said. The project is the last stretch of highway that would complete more than 51 miles of toll road that’s been in the works since the early 1980s, she said.
But the possible traffic relief didn’t convince the majority of the coastal commissioners and ardent opponents of the road who want to preserve the region’s natural resources.
Stefanie Sekich, coordinator of the Save Trestles campaign for the Surfrider Foundation, said the road would set a terrible precedent for building roads through state parks.
“[It’s] open space that we just don’t have anymore in Southern California. And we have to protect these cultural, recreational resources for future generations,” she said.
Sekich said a coalition of groups opposed to the road, including the Surfrider Foundation, have filed a lawsuit against the TCA for violating the California Environmental Quality Act regulations. The case has yet to go to court, according to TCA officials.
Fears that the toll road would disrupt the environment, as well as ruin the surf spot at Trestles beach, has spurred the local surf community to continue opposing the project.
Glenn Paculba, owner of Pacific Beach’s Star Surfing, said he’s against the project because of potential water and air pollution caused by the traffic on proposed road.
Eric “Bird” Huffman, owner of South Coast Windandsea Surf Shop, said he doesn’t want to see the quality of waves at Trestles ruined by development. He said other good surf spots at Dana Point and others in Ocean Beach have been affected by development in the past.
The waves at Trestles result from the unique shape of the shoreline bottom made from cobblestones and sediment that have been washed up to the shoreline over decades, Huffman said.
“It gives you more a defined bottom contour that keeps the quality of waves far superior than a normal beach break. [They’re] a better shape.” Bird said.
Though many fear building the road would affect sediment flow and change the waves at Trestles, supporters for the road say that fear is unfounded.
“The toll road project will in no way affect the delivery of cobble[stones] to the shoreline,” said Dave Skelly, coastal engineer, in a video presentation posted on the pro-toll road website www.relievetraffic.org.
Councilwoman Donna Frye said the issues go beyond waves and affect anyone who wants to visit the park.
“This wasn’t just about surfers,” Frye said, “This is something that people need to ask themselves, what is really more important to leave the future generations? A beautiful, pristine state park or another road? Which is really the legacy we want to leave to our children?”