Hundreds Turn Out For Toll Road Hearing

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published September 22, 2008 at 11:58 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

More than 1,000 people turned out today at a public hearing over a proposed toll road that would cut through San Onofre State Beach. The California Coastal Commission rejected the plan. But the decisi

More than 1,000 people turned out today at a public hearing over a proposed toll road that would cut through San Onofre State Beach. The California Coastal Commission rejected the plan. But the decision was appealed to a federal agency. KPBS Environmental Reporter Ed Joyce has details. (Story continues below)

Last February the California Coastal Commission rejected the 16-mile extension of the toll road.

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The Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agencies asked the U.S Commerce Department to overturn that decision.

Opponents say the project would destroy a large area of unspoiled habitat and cause harm to the Trestles surf break.

Richard Dixon is president of the Southern California Association of Governments.

He says the toll road is needed to reduce congestion.

Dixon : It is imperative that the coastal commission's decision be overturned. Because if it is not it could result in increased traffic congestion and a loss of transportation funding. Please overturn the coastal commission's decision.

A decision on the appeal is due by January 7 and could come as early as next month.

The Commerce Secretary has received more than 35,000 written comments on the toll road appeal.

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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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