Congressman Mike Levin and other local officials braved the rain at San Clemente State Beach on Thursday afternoon, April 13, to provide updates about actions to ensure future rail service along Southern California’s coastline.
As a reminder of the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor’s importance to businesses, passengers and more, Levin announced that he’s pursuing $4 million in federal funding to assist in local efforts to study solutions for rail planning.
Levin’s request for the second phase of federal community project funding comes weeks after the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) Board of Directors approved a two-phase study to investigate short-, medium- and long-term solutions for rail planning efforts.
“This request will go through the Congressional appropriations process, and I’m going to continue to advocate for these funds for our district along with whatever federal dollars are needed,” said Levin, the 49th Congressional District representative who oversees cities in South Orange County and North San Diego County.
Katrina Foley, Fifth District Board Supervisor of Orange County and an OCTA board member, said Levin’s request would “certainly contribute to expediting the process” of landing the estimated $7 million needed for OCTA’s study on the long-term solutions.
She added that the state government’s previous grant of $6 million to assist in the recently completed $12 million track stabilization project in south San Clemente assured her of OCTA’s “good partnership” with the state.
Levin’s appearance in San Clemente was the last stop on the roughly four-hour experience up the coast on Thursday, as he hosted Amit Bose, administrator for the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).
They started by boarding a North County Transit District COASTER train near Torrey Pines to head towards a press conference in Solana Beach before holding the second in San Clemente.
“I was able to show Administrator Bose the precarious railroad conditions, particularly the section of the bluffs in Del Mar, where the tracks run within several feet of the cliffside,” Levin said. “It’s only a matter of time before those tracks will be over the cliff’s edge.”
Then he mentioned how the train trip ended in Solana Beach because of the rail closure up to San Clemente, which was emblematic of the issues freight and passenger interests must face because of coastal erosion’s effects.
California’s appropriation of $300 million towards a tunnel project that will realign the corridor near Del Mar and funding from the bipartisan infrastructure bill are examples of taking action for the long term, according to Levin.
“We have an opportunity—a once in a lifetime opportunity—to leverage the state funds and bring the necessary resources to relocate the tracks,” he said.
He emphasized that he would continue to attempt to secure “every last cent of federal funding” necessary to address the challenges facing the LOSSAN corridor.
President Joe Biden’s administration has made safeguarding rail systems against natural events a priority, according to Bose, who added that $66 million from the bipartisan infrastructure bill will help the cause, in addition to other funding.
“FRA has already obligated an unprecedented $4.3 billion to Amtrak, and more than $4.5 billion right now is available through the federal state partnership program to support the restoration and expansion of existing passenger rail service and future rail service across the country,” said Bose.
The Department of Transportation’s other multimodal grant programs will also continue to fund projects along the LOSSAN corridor, he said.
In responding to a question about whether the railroad would be relocated to avoid traveling along the San Clemente coast and other nearby areas, Bose declined to make any “premature” judgments before studies were completed.
Brett Sanders, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Irvine, also spoke.
Sanders said he has studied the risks along the Southern California coast in varying capacities for more than a decade, including using satellite imagery to chart the changes that Cotton’s Point in San Clemente has experienced.
Nearby residents are correct when they say that what used to be a stable beach facing gradual decline took a drastic turn for the worst around 2015, according to Sanders.
“The tipping point is not yet fully understood, but is likely a combination of higher than normal sea levels associated with the El Niño (storms) from 2014 to 2016, which elevated the sea level by tens of centimeters, and also big, large swell waves that came in during Hurricane Marie in 2014,” he said.
Sanders added that man-made infrastructure to protect inland areas and to protect cliffs has restricted the natural supply of sand up and down the coast.
He endorsed sand nourishment projects as the action that will best serve Californians.
Foley announced that she had asked Sanders to participate in a task force she is creating that will address sustainability and climate action planning in Orange County.
Other speakers included State Sen. Catherine Blakespear of the 38th District, which encompasses northern San Diego County and parts of South Orange County, and North County Transit District Chair Jewel Edson.
Blakespear confirmed that she is chairing the new subcommittee on LOSSAN Corridor Resiliency, intended to identify investment opportunities to maintain and improve the corridor’s infrastructure.
Responding to a question about whether similar slope movement could occur again in the coming months, Levin said that it is only a matter of time.
“I think we all know that we live in an environment with increasing threats from climate change, and it really is only a matter of time before we’re going to face another erosion-related closure,” he said. “That’s why we’ve got to do everything we can, not just to fix things in the near term, (but) fix them for the long term.”
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