Huge Crowd Expected At Toll Road Hearing

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published September 22, 2008 at 2:00 AM PDT

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

More than 3,000 people are expected to show up at a hearing in Del Mar today. The Commerce Department will hear what people from San Diego think about building a six-lane toll road through San Onofre

More than 3,000 people are expected to show up at a hearing in Del Mar today. The Commerce Department will hear what people from San Diego think about building a six-lane toll road through San Onofre State Park. KPBS Environmental Reporter Ed Joyce has details.

The California Coastal Commission rejected the project six months ago.

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That decision was appealed to the Commerce Department by the Transportation Corridor Agencies or TCA, which wants to build the toll road.

Attorney Angela Howe is with the Surfrider Foundation, which opposes the project.

She says no matter what the Commerce Department decides, legal action is likely.

Howe: If the TCA gets their way then our coalition and the coastal commission will be able to sue under the administrative procedure act. If the TCA gets denied they will be able to sue under the administrative procedure act. So either way there's redress in federal court.

Opponents say the road will hurt wildlife, archaeological sites, water quality and beach access.

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Those supporting the road say it will reduce congestion on parts of I-5.

The Commerce Department is allowing 10 hours for testimony.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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