Earlier this year, the California Coastal Commission, with the Grateful Dead literally playing in the background, decided to tube the completion of the 241 toll road on the grounds, well, to be quite honest, there weren’t many grounds for their decision.
Since that flight of hippy three ring circus fancy, cold economic and environmental facts began to become clear as the federal government stepped in and announced that they would take a look at overruling the Coastal Commission. Today, while many of the same interests converged on the Del Mar Fairgrounds as did in February, the Commerce Department took charge and the difference was as stark as that between the Dead and real life.
In real life, recent studies have proven what any kindergartener knows – boulders, like the ones that form surf breaks, are heavier than the inch or two of silt that may, during hurricane type runoff be deposited on the beach from the always dry creekbed five miles away that the 241 will be built some thirty feet over via viaduct.
And in real life, the Commission’s ruling puts more commuters on the 5 and local streets – causing the pollution that the enviros say they want to solve.
With the Department of Commerce now involved, we find the federal government having a much more rational standard for considering overturning the Coastal Commission’s decision – the national significance of the project. Imagine, an agency that values jobs, quality of life, the ability to transport goods, the ability for people to evacuate in an emergency, and a host of other potential benefits over the potential inconvenience of the pocket mouse or fairy shrimp. Well it happened today at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
The 241 clearly qualifies on these grounds, as it connects two roads Congress has already accorded national significance too – Interstate 5 and State Route 91. The 241 was specifically designed to relieve the 5 of additional traffic – in accordance with bi-partisan policy over the three decades that the road has been planned, studied, partially completed, studied some more, and then beaten like a piñata.
Throughout the 10-hour day, while opponents of the project claimed supposed ownership of what is public land and offerend compelling arguments such as "nature is nurturing," speakers supporting the project stayed a tad more on message, hammering the point of the critical national importance of the road. “The 241 has been a key part of Southern California’s federally approved transportation plan for 7 years. Both parties in Congress recognize that the 5 will cease to be an effective road for commerce, jobs, or commuting if this road isn’t built,” said one.
A group of Legislative leaders from Sacramento made the trek down for the hearing, as did a number of local elected officials who will soon become Legislators themselves, including Mayors Jeff Miller, Curt Hagman, and Diane Harkey. Also worth noting was the dedication of Tustin Mayor Jerry Amante, who along with Jeff Miller stuck around in Del Mar from gavel to gavel.
Word is, the Commerce Department will make a decision by January, and unlike the farce of a fair hearing that occurred before the Coastal Commission, today’s events give room for hope.