Trestles - Toll Road Controversy

Toll Road Controversy

The California Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA) is seeking to construct a 16-mile long six-lanes wide toll highway (graded for eight lanes) through San Onofre State Beach/Park and a habitat reserve in Orange County, joining the San Diego Freeway at Trestles.

The Toll Road, which is one of several routes that could be constructed to extend California State Route 241, is favored by several business groups and public officials from Orange County as a way to ease future traffic congestion. The particular Toll Road route through San Onofre is opposed by more than two dozen members of California’s congressional delegation in Washington, D.C., thirty-eight California legislators including California's United States Senator Barbara Boxer, Surfrider Foundation, Defenders of Wildlife, The Sierra Club, The Natural Resources Defense Council, the California State Parks Foundation, the California State Park and Recreation Commission the Native American United Coalition to Protect Panhe, The City Project, the Save San Onofre Coalition, and Save Trestles, among others. Opposition is based upon the damage to the environment that would result from construction and operation of the Toll Road, the loss of park camping and recreational areas, the loss/damage to a site sacred to Native Americans, and studies that show that traffic congestion would actually increase on the San Diego Freeway if the toll road is built through San Onofre Beach. A survey of Orange County voters revealed that while 52% favored "a" toll road, 66% opposed the proposed route that would take the Toll Road through San Onofre State Park.

On February 6, 2008 the California Coastal Commission denied a Coastal Permit for the route of the proposed 241 Toll Road that would have cut through San Onofre and the Reserve, saying that of the eight possible routes considered, the one sought by the TCA was the most environmentally damaging. Had a permit been granted, it would have been the first toll road to run through a California state park. The Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA) appealed the Coastal Commission's decision to the U.S. Department of Commerce, which has until January, 2009 to issue its decision following the public hearing held September 22, 2008.

As of August 20, 2008, there are at least four lawsuits pending. The lawsuits have been filed by various groups and organizations, which have banded together in various groupings, all with the goal of stopping the toll road through San Onofre State Beach.

On December 18, 2008 The Department of Commerce announced that it would uphold the California Coastal Commission’s ruling that found the TCA’s proposed extension of the 241 Toll Road inconsistent with the California Coastal Act. In a release issued by the Department of Commerce, the DOC noted that at least one reasonable alternative to the project existed, and that the project was not necessary in the interest of national security.

Surfrider Foundation’s Assistant Environmental Director Mark Rauscher said this about the December 18 decision: "This decision is a significant milestone in our efforts to protect San Onofre State Beach Park and the surrounding environment; and underscores the effectiveness of grassroots activism."

Panhe is the site of an ancient Acjachemen village in the San Mateo campground area of San Onofre State Beach, straddling the San Diego-Orange county border off Cristianitos Road near Trestles. It remains a sacred, ceremonial, cultural, and burial site for the Acjachemen people. Many Acjachemen people trace their lineage back to Panhe. It is the site of the first baptism in California, and in 1769, the first close contact between Spanish explorers, Catholic missionaries, and the Acjachemen people. The Acjachemen people built the mission at San Juan Capistrano. The advocacy group Save Panhe and San Onofre State Beach state that not only is Panhe one of the most historically significant sacred sites of the Acjachemen people, but that Panhe is also important to all Californians and Americans.