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241 PROTECTS SURF BREAK AT TRESTLES
Roadway completion project will not change sediment delivery to beach
IRVINE, Calif. (December 13, 2007) – The 241 Toll Road will be constructed to ensure that the world class surf conditions at Trestles Beach will be fully protected. The road, which has long been included in regional transportation plans, will join existing Interstate 5 more than a half mile from the shoreline. Among the continuing false and misleading statements made by project opponents are claims that the San Mateo Watershed will be “obliterated” and the surf at Trestles will be “ruined.” Both assertions, made in the face of critically needed congestion relief for Southern California, are untrue.
Expert analysis confirms that the classic breaks at Trestles and other nearby surf spots are formed by the large cobble deposits in the delta of the San Mateo Creek. “These cobbles episodically delivered to the shoreline, every 20 years or so, are what form the surf break” said Dave Skelly a coastal engineer who has made careful studies of that stretch of beach.
Skelly, a surfer himself, has analyzed the shoreline at Trestles and concluded that “more sand is removed from the State Park beaches by people with sand in their towels and in their beach equipment than this project will change. The sand for the nearby surf spots comes primarily from up and down the coast and not from the San Mateo Creek. The project will not measurably impact the natural delivery of sand and cobbles to the shoreline from the creek and will have no impact on the surf break. Period.”
Also baseless is the claim that the San Mateo Watershed will be “obliterated.” The project is adjacent to the western boundary of the San Mateo Watershed and comprises only 0.2 percent of the 85,300 acre San Mateo Watershed.
TCA carefully analyzed potential coastal impacts, including, specifically, the surf break at Trestles. TCA urges public review of the facts. A short video explanation by Skelly, as well as the full report, are available online at www.RelieveTraffic.org.
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