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Toll Road Appeal Turned Down

The effort to build a 16 mile toll road that cuts through San Onofre State Beach Park has hit a road block. A federal agency rejected an appeal. KPBS Environmental Reporter Ed Joyce has details.

Toll Road Appeal Turned Down

The effort to build a 16 mile toll road that cuts through San Onofre State Beach Park has hit a road block. A federal agency rejected an appeal. KPBS Environmental Reporter Ed Joyce has details.

The U.S. Department of Commerce turned down the appeal from the Transportation Corridor Agencies.

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TCA wants to build the road in Orange and San Diego counties.

The Orange County-based agency says the project is needed to ease congestion on a stretch of Interstate-5.

The Commerce Department turned down the appeal saying there's at least one reasonable alternate route for the road.

The decision upholds the California Coastal Commission's rejection of the toll road.

Mark Rauscher with the Surfrider Foundation fought against the project.

Rauscher:
We're urging the TCA and Orange County elected officials to embrace alternative transportation strategies and actually come up with real traffic solutions that don't jeopardize our natural resources.

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Last February the Coastal Commission ruled the project was inconsistent with California law and threatened environmentally sensitive habitat.

Opponents also argued the road would block sediment flow that creates the world-class Trestles surf break.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.