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More Oppose Road That Might Threaten San Mateo Creek

A proposal to cut a 16-mile toll road through the San Onofre State Beach has more opposition. A national conversation group says the road threatens a creek in the area. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has more

More Oppose Road That Might Threaten San Mateo Creek

(Photo: San Onofre Atomic Power Plant. David McNew/Getty Images. )

A proposal to cut a 16-mile toll road through the San Onofre State Beach has more opposition. A national conversation group says the road threatens a creek in the area. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has more.

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The group American Rivers says San Mateo Creek is the nation's second most-threatened river. The group says a planned toll road will destroy a long section of the creek. The waterway flows into San Diego County from the Cleveland National Forest into the San Onofre State Beach Parks. Mark Rausher is with the Surfrider Foundation of Orange County.

Rausher : This is not a good project, it’s going to threaten this creek, it’s going to threaten this natural system that is the last of its kind in Southern California. There are no more free-flowing, un-dammed, undeveloped watersheds in Southern California anymore, this is the last one.

The Transportation Corridor Agencies wants to start building the toll road in four years. But tollway officials need permits and approvals from several federal and state agencies before the project can move forward. The group is also battling several legal challenges.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.