Toll road (in SoCal) extension challenged

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Toll road extension challenged

State Attorney General Bill Lockyer sues to block Foothill South construction through the San Onofre State Beach, citing environmental impacts on public park lands.

By BRIAN JOSEPH and JIM RADCLIFFE
The Orange County Register

SACRAMENTO – Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced this morning he has joined environmental groups and a state commission on Native American heritage in filing a series of lawsuits to block the proposed extension of the Foothill (241) Toll Road through San Onofre State Beach, claiming the project does not adequately address the visual and environmental impacts on the state's fifth most popular state park.

"It seems to me that building a six-lane highway through the San Onofre State Beach misses an opportunity to meet transportation needs for this growing region without sacrificing public park lands which should be protected for future generations," Lockyer said in a joint press conference announcing the filing of the three lawsuits against the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency. The attorney general's suit, filed on behalf of the people of California, and the State Park and Recreation Commission, attacks the mitigation measures laid out in the Environmental Impact Report on the $875 million project.

The suit by a coalition of seven environmental groups, lead by the California State Parks Foundation and the Sierra Club, makes similar claims while the suit by the Native American Heritage Commission says the project infringes on a sacred religious site for the Juaneno/Acjachemen people, known as Panhe. All three suits were to be filed in San Diego County.

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1068204.php