MYTH VS. FACT———————————————————————————

STATE HIGHWAY 241 – GOOD FOR REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION, THE ENVIRONMENT AND OUR QUALITY OF LIFE

State Route 241 has been on the Orange County Master Plan for Arterial Highways since 1981 and is also included in the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) regional transportation plan. The proposed 16-mile extension of the 241 from Orange County would connect with Interstate 5 at Basilone Road in Camp Pendleton. The extension will provide the final, vital link in a well-planned system that serves 21 million residents in Southern California. Every aspect of the alignment is well-conceived and designed with sensitivity to the environment, neighboring communities and the coastline.

The 241 will unclog congestion on Interstate 5 and also improve public safety by serving as an alternate evacuation route from both San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station and Camp Pendleton.

Despite the quality of this precedent-setting plan for managing and mitigating environmental concerns and protecting habitats, the California Coastal Commission rejected the application of the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) to build the extension. The rejection was based on severely flawed and prejudiced reports from the commission staff, which raised issues that were clearly covered in the environmental impact report and later substantiated by three oversight agencies, two federal and one state. The U.S. Secretary of Commerce is currently reviewing a petition to overrule the California Coastal Commission in its rejection of the application.

The facts of the application and its supporting environmental impact report are clearly on the side of approving the extension. However, no-growth opponents and narrow special interest groups have conducted an aggressive propaganda campaign to cloud the issue with myths, distortions and emotional appeals. Their four major arguments – the road will ruin the surf break at Trestles, the road will ruin a state park, the road will destroy the environment and all options weren’t pursued for relieving gridlock – are pure hyperbole and simply not true. The following provides facts to counter some of the major myths raised by the opposition.

MAJOR FACT 1 – THE PROPOSED ROUTE IS THE BEST OPTION FOR RELIEVING REGIONAL GRIDLOCK

MYTH - Not all options were explored. Widening Interstate 5 is the preferred option.

FACT – The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, United States Marine Corps, United States Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Highway Administration and Caltrans collaborated for more than six years to select an alignment that accommodates the needs of the traveling public with what outside experts say will be the most environmentally sensitive road ever designed.

FACT – Dozens of alternative routes were analyzed. This alignment was the one that avoided the most sensitive habitat areas and provided the most traffic relief.

FACT – Widening Interstate 5 would cost Californians an estimated $2.4 billion and displace hundreds of homes and businesses. No federal or state funds exist for such an undertaking.

MYTH - The 241 will do nothing to ease future gridlock.

FACT – Extending the 241 will relieve traffic on Interstate 5 in South Orange County by providing an alternative route. Without the toll road, travel from the San Diego/Orange County border to Missioin Viejo will take one hour in 2025. With the toll road constructed, the same drive on Interstate 5 will take 25 minutes and it will take 16 minutes on the toll road. In addition, the 241 is expected to take pressure off Interstate 15, currently used by many driving from eastern Orange County into San Diego County. The new road will provide an alternative to Interstate 5 for the hundreds of thousands of motorists a day who travel between San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles Counties. The toll road will carry 58,000 vehicles a day. Those are cars that would otherwise be on neighborhood streets and Interstate 5.

MAJOR FACT 2 – THE NEW ROAD PROTECTS THE BEACHES; STOPS A HALF MILE FROM TRESTLES

MYTH - They are building a road to Trestles.

FACT – The road ends a half mile from the beach on the east side of Interstate 5 at Basilone Road on Marine Corps property, not at Trestles beach; the 241 was designed to protect the beaches, with no impact on the surf.

MYTH - Building the road will change the sediment flow that makes Trestles one of the world’s best surfing spots.

FACT – The Toll Road will not change the waves at Trestles. The waves are created by large cobbles that are carried south through the watershed during heavy rain. The project will not impact transport of the cobbles.

FACT – Water detention systems will filter runoff from the 241 and two miles of I-5 currently without water management systems. The result: what engineers say is arguably the best roadway water quality treatment system in the country.

FACT – TCA’s water quality plan ensures that sediment transport in the area will remain the same post-project as it is today. The sediment flow will not be “shut off” by the proposed toll road, which is proposed to cross San Mateo Creek on four very small bridge structures similar to the train trestles, old Highway 101 bridge and Interstate 5 bridges that currently cross the creek. None of these existing structures, which have been in place for a minimum of 40 years, have impacted the surf break because the water and the sediment it carries flows under bridges. The bridges have not, nor will they in the future, shut off this flow.

MYTH - These mitigation systems are going to be ineffective during large rainstorm events. That’s been proven. We know that.

FACT – The exact opposite has been proven. The water quality facilities are based on a five-year study, the BMP Retrofit Pilot Program, conducted jointly by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Santa Monica Baykeeper, the San Diego Baykeeper, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Caltrans, along with an extensive list of technical experts and other agencies. The water quality plan for the 241 will become a standard by which all others come to be judged.

MYTH - The walk in at Trestles is half the experience. You are ruining it with a freeway interchange.

FACT – Opponents have created a false impression by cutting and pasting a photo of a freeway interchange over a photo of Trestles. The connection with Interstate 5 will be on the east side of the highway at Basilone Road, invisible from the trail to Trestles.

MAJOR FACT 3 – CAMPSITES AND TRAILS ARE PRESERVED

MYTH - TCA is running a six-lane road through San Onofre State Beach and ruining the campsites that are enjoyed by so many.

FACT – The alignment crosses a little-used inland subunit of San Onofre State Beach Park east of Interstate 5 almost a mile from the beach. The most popular campgrounds are west of Interstate 5, far from the 241. Plans call for keeping all sites open during and after construction, building pedestrian undercrossings to other park areas and adding a protective barrier to reduce traffic sounds. In addition, TCA will contribute $100 million to improve California’s state parks system.

FACT – The route for Foothill-South does not remove or damage any campsites within the San Onofre State Park. A trail from San Mateo Campground to the beach will remain open during and after construction. View simulations prepared for the project illustrate that any impacts to the viewshed are minimal.

MYTH - This campground will have a toll road within 250 of it with 60-foot sound walls climbing up canyon walls.

FACT – Sound walls near the campground will be a maximum of 16 feet tall. The campground is 385 feet from the toll road. As a result, it will have far less noise than the Bluffs Campground, which is 250 feet from Interstate 5 with no sound walls. A trail from San Mateo Campground and Trestles parking area to the beach will remain open during and after construction. Currently, Trestles visitors walk under Interstate 5 and the train trestles to reach the beach.

FACT 4 – THE ROUTE IS THE BEST FOR PROTECTING HABITATS

MYTH - The road is a death knell for seven endangered species.

FACT – Two agencies – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – said that the road would not harm any threatened or endangered species. Recently, the California Department of Fish and Game reached agreement with the Transportation Corridor Agencies for mitigating the effects of the toll road with enhancing and restoring 57 acres along the route.

FACT – The alignment of the roadway was engineered to avoid the sensitive habitat for these species, including the Pacific pocket mouse and Arroyo toad, to ensure that the species will continue to thrive in the area. National Marine Fisheries determined that the toll road would have no impact to the steelhead trout. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has determined that the project will not jeopardize these species. The watershed will be protected.

MYTH - TCA is paving San Mateo Creek. We need to save Southern California’s last great, naturally perfect, intact coastal watershed.

FACT – The extension of the 241 Toll Road will not pave over the San Mateo Watershed. The majority of the watershed lies within Camp Pendleton and the Cleveland National Forest. Less than 2 percent of the entire watershed is projected for commercial or residential development leaving 98.2 percent undeveloped.

FACT – The road will bridge over San Mateo Creek on four small columns, each about 70 square feet at the base and designed for minimal environmental impact. There are far fewer columns than can be found nearby with Interstate 5, old Highway 101 and the trestles bridge for rail traffic. The creek will continue to flow just as it does today.

FACT – The alignment preserves huge blocks of open space for wildlife corridors, avoiding wetlands and occupied habitat areas. Most of the watershed is in Camp Pendleton and Cleveland National Forest.

MYTH - The Coastal Commission staff says the coastal area is pristine and needs to be protected.

FACT – They forgot to note that 80 of the 138 acres within the coastal zone that will be impacted by the project are existing roads and other developed/disturbed areas. The staff completely overlooked base housing and a commercial complex north of Interstate 5, Camp Pendleton Officer Housing south of Interstate 5, a network of roads including Old Highway 101, Christianitos Road, Basilone Road and unnamed paved roads, San Onofre Security Gate complex, Camp Pendleton training areas, percolation ponds, paved parking lots, the Marine’s training beach and train tracks.

FACT – The San Mateo Watershed is home to an active Marine base.