stop the trestles toll road

real-time twitter updates from the hearing are online.

the proposed 241 toll road that would go directly through san onofre state park is such a blatant example of developers giving a big flipoff to the citizens of california that its amazing it's even up for discussion with the coastal commission today. it takes cajones to propose a 6 lane toll road to relieve non-existent congestion on i-5 in southern orange county and actually run it through a state park. but that's exactly what they've done, even after the previous toll roads constructed in orange county have hardly been a success financially, and that's ignoring their environmental impact. fortunately there's been a big turnout against the project, largely headed by surfrider, who are concerned about the impact on the trestles surf break at san onofre.

even more disturbing than the laughable developers and their political allies (including the governor, who came out in support of the project - no matter that he appoints members of the supposedly objective coastal commission) are the unbelievably selfish orange county folks who couldn't give a fuck about blasting a road through a coastal state park and the precedence that sets - just get me to daygo faster, ok?! here are some prime quotes from the union tribune article from yesterday:

“There's only so much talk radio a person can stand,” said Melinda Stone, 49, of San Clemente, who is on the road a lot because she runs a home-welcoming service for new residents.

“I know it's not politically correct, but come on. Stopping this project for a mouse, a toad or a bug? The quality of life for people should take precedence.”

since talk radio mostly comes in the conservative crap kind, melinda's developed the classic symptom of that ideology: selfishness. see, melinda saving 5 minutes off off her occasional trip to san diego results in an improvement in her quality of life that is way more important than any environmental impact or negative effects on her fellow californians.

oc tool #2 is tom meservy:

Despite his appreciation for open space along the coast, Meservey said, driving on Interstate 5 in southern Orange County is “always a roll of the dice.”

The proposed toll road would reduce the travel time from his home to the beaches in San Clemente from 45 minutes to about 20 minutes, he estimated.

“We have an opportunity now to solve the traffic problem before it's too late,” said Meservey, who co-owns a car-wash business in Laguna Hills.

his last quote is confusing - building a toll road, which will encourage further development (if it's not already planned as part of this project) - will somehow solve a traffic "problem" that i've never witnessed in my travels on i-5, apart from an occasional slowdown in san clemente. and how is it "too late"? are we going to miss the proposed high-speed rail train (opposed by our governor, of course)? i'm guessing tom's right with arnold on that one too.

so if this toll road is approved, remember it's not just the developers who made it happen. it's the conservative citizens of much of orange county, a truly awful place devoid of any character whatsoever and populated by the moneyed soulless; people who have constructed a car-only suburban landscape and lifestyle that demands that projects like these be built. after all, other than the beach, it's not like they have any interesting places to drive to in southern orange county anyway.

UPDATE, 11:23 PM: right after i posted this i checked twitter and the project has just been denied! way to go coastal commission. stuff it, melinda and tom.