Posted on November 4, 2024
Another major boost in funding has been awarded to the Orange County Transportation Authority for efforts to secure a coastal rail line threatened by the ocean and collapsing bluffs – this time, $100 million in new federal assistance announced Thursday, Oct. 31.
Officials made the announcement in San Clemente, where troubles in recent years have resulted in months-long closures of the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo, or LOSSAN, Corridor where it runs oceanfront, cutting off the link with San Diego to the south.
The OCTA has identified four “hot spots” areas that need to be immediately addressed – at an estimated cost of $300 million.
The funding follows news last week of $125 million from the California State Transportation Agency to help OCTA stabilize the 7-mile stretch of coastal corridor. The state has also promised another $80 million from the Trade Corridor Enhancement Program, according to OCTA officials.
The promised funding will allow the OCTA to move forward with plans to do a combination of remedies, officials said, including catchment walls on the land side to block debris from falling onto tracks, as well as a mix of rock revetments and sand replenishment to serve as a buffer between the rail and the ocean.
OCTA spokesman Joel Zlotnik called the state and federal funding a “tremendous step” in its efforts “to help protect the rail line and keep trains running for everyone who depends on them.”
“We’re very happy to have the federal funding. We had a number of grants we were seeking, to have this come through is really a tremendous boost to the project, it helps fully fund our ability to protect the rail line,” he said.
Officials also announced $7.4 million in federal funding toward the second phase of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ San Clemente Shoreline Project. On Thursday, a large barge could be seen working out near the pier, where the contractor Manson Construction is setting up to restart the sand replenishment project as early as next week.
San Clemente Mayor Victor Cabral, center, shows comparison pictures of sand erosion and sand replenishment to Congressman Mike Levin, right, and Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley, during a press conference in San Clemente, CA, on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. Levin announced funding for an additional $100 million in federal grants for work to protect the train tracks and beaches…
Rep. Mike Levin talked about how last January he had plans to take federal constituents on a train ride from San Diego to San Luis Obispo when a landslide in San Clemente shuttered the tracks.
“In the middle of the night, literally the night before we were going to do it, and just a few hours before we were scheduled to ride that train, a landslide not far from here in San Clemente blocked the tracks, halting the service for two months,” he said. “Commuters couldn’t get to work, goods couldn’t get to businesses, people couldn’t visit their loved ones, and it had a dramatic impact on our community. And I wish that that had been an isolated incident, but I think we all here know that it was not.”
In the last seven years, the LOSSAN Corridor has been closed for a cumulative 12 months due to troubles along this stretch of coast, he said.
“That’s just not acceptable,” he said. “We can’t allow that to continue to happen.”
Levin called the 351-mile LOSSAN corridor, which serves passengers and freight, the second busiest in the country, making the $100 million in federal funding from the Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration crucial to keep the rail moving.
“It’s absolutely critical for commuters, for businesses, for tourists, our military and for the goods across our region,” he said.
The second federal funding announcement for the San Clemente Shoreline Project will finish a project that already earlier this year brought 114,000 cubic yards to the beach.
When that project resumes, it will pump an additional 86,000 cubic yards of sand onto the beach surrounding the pier, from T-Street to Linda Lane. That project, while adding more recreational space, also serves to protect the rail, officials said.
The project, which is designed to include periodic nourishments every five to seven years for 50 years, got off to a rocky start when an original dredge location was delivering more rocks and pebbles than expected and a new borrow location had to be found.
Mayor Victor Cabral talked about the troubles San Clemente has faced the past four decades as its beaches have dwindled, with no sand and just rocks along some stretches. The city also recently spent an estimated $2 million to truck in sand to restore a stretch of North Beach, a project that finished just a few weeks ago.
“It is absolutely a beautiful beach,” he said, showing before and after photos. “It was all rocks, now it’s all sand.”
The city is also undergoing a search for sand closer to its shoreline for future projects not included in the OCTA’s plans.
The federal funding will not cover the city’s portion of the increased cost of the replenishment project. The council approved $2.6 million a few weeks ago to cover San Clemente’s share. The city is responsible for one-third of the project cost for this initial round, but will have to pay half of the cost in future rounds.
Col. Andrew Baker with the Army Corp of Engineers shared a timeline for the San Clemente restoration project, with the contractor aiming at a Nov. 6 start. It is expected to take about 22 days.
The OCTA’s proposal for how to better protect the rail line from ocean damage is expected to include 500,000 cubic yards of sand spread out on beaches in the northern and southern sections of town. The placement of an estimated 67,000 tons to 84,000 tons of rocks on the ocean side and catchment walls on the inland side are also being considered.
OCTA project manager Dan Phu said the plans are still in the preliminary engineering and environmental phase and early estimates for the amount of sand or rocks needed could still change.
“The numbers are not concrete,” he said. “We don’t want to prejudge what the exact details are going to be until we actually get there. As we hone in, the numbers could go any way – meaning it could be higher, it could be lower – but until we have done the analysis, we want to leave that flexibility.”
Jeff Berg, founder of the advocacy group Bring Back Our Beaches, said while the recent funding is a start, the OCTA plan should call for regular nourishment, not a one-time placement of sand. Experts believe an estimated 2 million cubic yards is needed to “recharge” the beaches, as well as recurring nourishment to keep the beaches stable, he said.
An estimated OCTA project timeline shows environmental documents potentially earning approval by 2025, with a design-build contract awarded by 2026 and construction completed by the end of 2027.
