Despite Rejection, Push Continues For State Park Toll Road Project

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published February 15, 2008 at 1:48 PM PST

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

The agency that wants to build a toll road through San Onofre State Park isn't giving up on the project even though the state Coastal Commission rejected the plan last week. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has

The agency that wants to build a toll road through San Onofre State Park isn't giving up on the project even though the state Coastal Commission rejected the plan last week. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has details.

The Transportation Corridor Agency of Orange County says without the road highways, South Orange County will approach gridlock. They've appealed the coastal commission's decision to the U.S. Department of Commerce. But that could take a year.

The executive director of the State Parks Foundation is Elizabeth Goldstein. She's against the toll road and says the agency should now consider alternatives.

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Goldstein : They're institutionally reluctant I think to look at those alternatives. Like the possibilities of improving the I-5. Then they would be spending their money responsibly. You know it's our view that they're tilting at windmills at this point.

The $875 million Foothill South toll road would cut through the northern half of San Onofre State park, taking about 320 acres of park land. The park is home to several endangered species. It's also the site of a popular campground and the Trestles surf spot.

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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