One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
Construction Begins To Protect A Critical Coastal Rail Corridor In San Clemente
Crews have begun building a temporary wall to protect the San Clemente coastal rail corridor from landslides and debris.
(
The Orange County Transportation Authority
)
Topline:
Construction began this week on a temporary wall that’s designed to catch sliding soil and debris from a San Clemente hillside near Mariposa Point. The major coastal rail corridor has been routinely hit with hillside problems.
Upgrades for the stretch will be similar to the one built last year below the Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens, which is less than a half mile away.
Why it matters: The San Clemente Pedestrian Beach Trail is closed from the North Beach parking lot to the trail’s bridge while construction continues. The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) expects it to be completed by mid-March, with crews working 12 hours a day.
Why now: They’ve started drilling 30 feet below ground to place the steel beams encased in concrete, which will work as the foundation for the wall.
The backstory: Freight train traffic has been stopped since the last round of rain caused significant sliding toward the bottom of the slope. Metrolink and Amtrak Pacific Surfliner services have also been shut down for more than a month now.
What's next: Passenger rail service could resume as soon as late March or early April, but that schedule may change. The OCTA is also working to get freight trains traveling through the area again “as quickly as possible.”
Go deeper: …to learn more about how this sliding slope held up in the last storm.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
