Rail service through San Clemente has been halted since Monday morning, June 5, after Casa Romantica Cultural Center & Gardens experienced another landslide to its hillside area, causing dirt and debris to fall onto the train tracks below, county and city officials announced.
While visiting Casa Romantica to survey the latest impacts of the landslide—the second since April 27, when the historic property’s back patio fell to the Beach Trail and track—Mayor Chris Duncan said city contractors had graded out the landslide as recently as Sunday night, June 4.
“It was smooth, it was well rounded off, and we felt, at 11 p.m. last night, ‘we finally got it done, we’re good, this is going to be stable,’ ” Duncan said. “Then, of course, we had some moisture overnight. Not sure if that’s the cause or not, but around 6:30, 7 this morning, reports came in that it was moving and it continued to move.”
The slide caused the slope to slip roughly 5 feet, according to Duncan, and created visible cracks and fissures. There hasn’t been reported movement near the Casa Romantica structure, which will remain open and maintain normal operating hours since officially reopening May 26.
At 7:30 a.m. Monday, Metrolink personnel responsible for monitoring the tracks observed the falling debris that prompted the organization to suspend commuter service out of “an abundance of caution,” according to a Metrolink spokesperson.
In an announcement on its website, Metrolink said that in addition to its services on the Orange County line and between the Inland Empire and Orange County halted, Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner and the BNSF Railway have also also stopped operating through San Clemente.
“Unfortunately, because of continued falling debris from the Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens hillside just north of Metrolink’s San Clemente Pier Station, the tracks have been closed affecting Metrolink’s Orange County Line and Inland Empire-Orange County Line, along with Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner and BNSF Railway,” Metrolink said in the announcement.
Noting that the tracks will be closed until further notice, Metrolink added, “there is no immediate timeline for the resumption of service.”
Kiel Koger, city engineer and director of Public Works, said city officials and contractors for the city have been working on the site continuously over the past month.
That work has included removing all vegetation on the hillside and some of the soil to lighten the burden on the slope. It also included more grading on Friday, June 2. Koger received calls on Saturday, June 3, regarding continued slope movement, which prompted the contractors to return to the site that day and Sunday.
“We’re just trying to figure out what we need to do now,” said Koger.
Duncan added it doesn’t look like the city can do anything to stabilize the slope to the point where the hillside won’t move again. He also said flaws in the sandy soil that comprise the hillside may have caused the slide.
“It doesn’t stick well together, it wants to slide and it’s smooth,” said Duncan. “That material that we keep moving around, we may need to remove that material and get some other material in there that’s better suited to be on a hillside and not likely to move in the future.”
He said that while he was concerned about the lack of a barrier in place to stop soil and debris from impacting the area containing the tracks, the city will work with Metrolink and the Orange County Transportation Authority, which owns the rail line, to protect the tracks.
Additionally, the city may need to place structures at the top of the hillside, near Casa Romantica’s building, that further stabilize and improve the situation.
Koger said the inclinometer device placed near Casa Romantica hasn’t moved, which is a good sign. He added that the city still wants to place one in the landslide area to determine the depth of where the displacement in the earth occurred.
“We still want to get a rig out there at some point to take a boring to figure out where the rupture surface is, because we need to know where that is in order to design the fix,” he said.
The city has been footing the bill for the recent work on the hillside, according to Duncan, who said the city will need help from federal and state partners to fund a bigger project.
“I think there’s going to need to be a larger solution here than just regrading this hillside,” said Duncan. “We were doing that in the interim because we just wanted to make sure that no debris went up against the (Reef Gate West Building A) we’re standing on right now.”
Remaining train lines traveling to Oceanside will stop at the Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo station and passengers will receive Uber vouchers of up to $50 to complete their travel.
The suspension comes more than a week since passenger rail services resumed over Memorial Day weekend. Rail services were suspended for weeks following the April 27 landslide that struck Casa Romantica, damaging the historic property’s back patio area and causing debris to fall on the tracks below.
Casa Romantica Executive Director Amy Behrens said their “Building Hope, Preserving History” campaign has raised about half of the organization’s initial $250,000 goal, that would help recoup losses from canceled events after the April landslide.
“We will keep the community informed about the progress of the ongoing work and any further developments,” Behrens said in a statement Monday, adding, “We sincerely appreciate everyone’s support, and we remain dedicated to providing enriching experiences for all who visit Casa Romantica.”
Discussion about this post