wait a second wrote on Jan 25, 2008 9:05 AM:1. More than 1200 people attended the Coastal Commission meeting in 1998 in which the CCC denied the Hearst Ranch resorts and golf proposal.

2. Moving the Toll Road WILL NOT require bulldozing hundreds of homes in San Clemente. That is a fraud that studies have now shown is a bogus misrepresentation perpetrated by TCA to win support for their enviro-destructo plan. In fact, the improvements needed for I-5 will have to be built EVEN IF the toll road is built, so just double the cost of fixing I-5 if you build the freeway to nowhere......

cerf4di wrote on Jan 25, 2008 10:24 AM:I was at the CCC meeting on the Hearst Development. 1200 people signed the anti-hearst petition...but there was a lot more people at the hearing than that...

Show up at the meeting and everytime you drive north past San Onofre you can think I helped stop the Toll Road and smile.

Concerned-1 wrote on Jan 25, 2008 1:09 PM:I don't give a hoot about the rat, or the goofy environmentalists. I do care about San Onofre. This road is ridiculous. Who is is suppose to benefit? People commuting from Oceanside to San Clemente or inland? What a joke. Road to nowhere is right. Focus on I-5.

tlake wrote on Jan 25, 2008 4:00 PM:There are many issues -- pocket mouse, arroy toad, open space, camping spots, mitigated land that will have to be re-mitigated -- associated with the toll road extension because it is so poorly planned. There are minimal benefits and major problems, so what is the point? Possibly to fill in the inland portions of San Clemente and San Juan with more houses, congesting the existing roads and freeways even more (regardless of the tollroad to nowhere).

Eddie wrote on Jan 25, 2008 4:18 PM:"It would certainly smash all existing records?" sounds pretty inflammatory. Think there's an angle here? Or, is this guy a concert promoter in disguise?

DJ wrote on Jan 25, 2008 5:59 PM:It's ridiculous how shrill the enviro wackos get when any needed public facility is built these days. Just read the plans - the road goes nowhere near the beach, only east of I-5. Stop lying, loony lefties, and get a job where you'll actually care about driving work every day like the rest of us who pay our taxes so you can take your time to protest capitalism.

KEEP SAN-O LOCAL wrote on Jan 25, 2008 6:04 PM:STOP THE TOLL ROAD

Cindy C in LB wrote on Jan 25, 2008 7:20 PM:The truth about Orange County toll roads:

Toll roads have not relieved traffic jams on public highways
The OCTA has concluded the 241 extension will not relieve traffic on the I5 (as the Transportation Corridor (TCA) has falsely lead the public to believe in their advertising campaigns)
Orange County Toll roads are not self sufficient and have cost the state money as they do not produce enough revenue to support themselves
They are expensive to drive and not economically feasible for most drivers
They do not reduce car emissions or smog
Construction of new roads--many negative impacts on the environment they run through
The proposed toll road will pollute the ocean despite TCA's efforts to build "catch basins" to hold back polluted water run off from the road
Catch basins will destroy the surf at San Onofre/Trestles State Beach preventing natural creek sediments from reaching the ocean which form the world famous surf breaks.
161 campsites at San Mateo Campground will close due to the toll road
60% of San Onofre State Beach will be closed due to the toll road per California State Parks and be inaccessible to the public
The area of the 241 Toll Road Extension is habitat to 11 endangered species
The toll road will not make the beach more accessible
The toll road will not help the environment
The construction of the toll road through San Onofre State Beach violates clean water, endangered species and coastal protection laws.
TCAs mention of $100 million donated to the state for state parks does not guarantee state park workers won't lose their jobs or that state parks won't close anyway due to budget cuts as implied by the governor--propaganda.
The number of planned new homes not yet developed will produce more traffic than the toll road and existing public freeways would handle and I5 will need widened anyway.
The nearby communities do not want this toll road constructed and would rather preserve the beauty of the open space instead.
A large number of people who use San Mateo Campground, surfers, citizens wanting to preserve the environment, environmental experts and many other groups all oppose this toll road.

Please save San Onofre, Trestles and San Mateo Campground.

Working Surfer wrote on Jan 25, 2008 7:31 PM:DJ:
I will keep it simple: You don't deserve to live near the coast. Mindsets like yours will ensure it is cemented and polluted for future generations. Oh, and I work AND I surf. AND, I would bet you my 401K that 1)I am more educated than you 2)I work harder than you and 3)I make more money than you. Care to compare tax returns or W-2's? I didn't think so. Arizona is just one state away and I'm sure would welcome you with open arms.

DJ wrote on Jan 25, 2008 7:48 PM:And San Francisco, Berkeley, or Santa Monica would love to have more Greenie limo liberals like you. I am so glad you have great wages, so why don't you volunteer to pay more to the government so that we more thoughtful citizens don't have to. Dennis Kucinich needs you for his campaign, so hurry up before it's too late!

DJ wrote on Jan 25, 2008 7:56 PM:Typical platitudes of a greenie. Never facts, only hysteria. Berkeley is just one hour by Southwest Airlines away and I'm sure would welcome you with open arms. You don't deserve to shut down the state for others just because you and your elitist friends surf here.

Dawn Patrol wrote on Jan 26, 2008 6:48 AM:Say NO to crowds. Say NO to the 241. Keep our beaches local!!

DJ wrote on Jan 26, 2008 7:38 AM:Dawn Patrol's comment reflect the elitism of the opponents of 241. He or she obviously does not want the less fortunate citizens of the Inland Empire (maybe even minorities, not just shaggy haired blondes!) to be able to drive to the coast and spoil his or her "local" beaches.

RWE wrote on Jan 26, 2008 7:55 PM:Why isn't the state or county government using the power of eminent domain to move the houses in Orange County out of the way of the toll road? Conservatives favor using eminent domain to make way for Wal-Marts so why not a road that could at least be considered a public benefit. Oh, wait, I know...eminent domain is only used against people suffering from LATEA (Limited Access TO Expensive Attorneys).

surf mom wrote on Jan 27, 2008 7:29 AM:DJ what planet are you from? why don't YOU move to arizona and leave the beaches to more soulful people? you lost yours to the [people] who run the government!!!!

JB wrote on Jan 30, 2008 9:01 PM:Plain and simple get rid of the non-compete clause between CalTrans and TCA and improve the 5! This is simply one of the best wilderness surf and camping spots in SoCal and it has some great mountain biking singletrack directly in the path of the pavers up in the San Mateo Creek Watershed. NEVER PAVE OVER OUR CHILDREN'S STATE PARKS!

Drew wrote on Jan 31, 2008 2:31 PM:DJ obviously is from the mainland and has never enjoyed the coast like others. Best to stay in the mainland.

John wrote on Feb 1, 2008 10:25 AM:Is DJ one of those elitists who drive SUV's and sneer down out hybrids?

Wheezy wrote on Feb 4, 2008 10:15 AM:DJ, do you really think you are the only person with a job paying taxes? I will be out to protest the toll road on Wednesday. I work. I commute. The toll roads don't help any traffic out (the 91 freeway is still a parking lot even with a toll road running parallel to it).

Some taxpayers would prefer their money going to expand the 55 and 91 freeways. ...

CueTheSurfPunks wrote on Feb 4, 2008 11:45 AM:The toll road opponents still haven’t actually mentioned the real reason they don’t want the toll road. They don’t want their surf spot overrun by non locals. With easy access, and congestion relieved on the 5 will bring bus routes and more excursions of mom bringing Irvine teens to the beach with their brand new surfboards. They know that the huge traffic bottleneck in San Clemente is their only defense against such an onslaught. When the saintly call of "Save the" somethingOrOther goes up, it only takes a moment looking for what people are greedy for to locate their real motives. If these so called environmentalists are so concerned about the coastline habitat, why do most of them live in huge housing tracts- right on the coast? Hypocrites.

Jeff wrote on Feb 5, 2008 3:49 PM:DJ and CueTheSurfPunks,

You guys are missing the point. Trestles is the last surf break in Southern California that is safe to surf after a rain storm. The reason it is safe is because it does not have run off from housing, roads and commercial property. This will be changed because as the toll road is planned it parallels San Mateo creek for 12 miles. It is this same water shed that feeds those wetlands that drain into Trestles. After the toll road is built housing, new roads, and miny malls will spring up all around it and the San Mateo Creek. Now if you don't think water quality is serious issue then I invite you and your family to taka swim at Doheny Beach the day after a rain storm. I'm sure plenty of us "Greenie limo liberals" would supply you with a wetsuit to keep you warm and directions past the "health warning" signs. You and family could bath and splash around in the disease infested water, and have a great time. I would also like to extend this same invitation to Governor Schwarzenegger and his family. Perhaps Arnold would have second thoughts about backing the 241 extension if one of his offspring contracted a serious disease by swimming at a State Beach.

CueTheSurfPunks wrote on Feb 5, 2008 9:10 PM:I stand vindicated. Jeff's response is motivated by a desire to keep his private swiming hole clean and all to himself. Instead of saying that, he invites us to swim in filthy water.

Issues like these purported sacred indian grounds, personal attacks against this organization or that, fervored debate over this statistic or that statistic and scary wordplay like endangered species and disease infested are simple misdirection to cloud a self serving interest.

You might just try asking, "Hey, I like surfing here, can you guys move your freeway a couple miles one way or the other?" A little honesty would be refreshing from the anti-toll road camp as it is in very scarce supply sofar.

Would you be more inclined to help out someone whom you've investigated and found them to be honest, or what if they were dishonest?

Personally I could care less which way the vote goes and if you decide to carry on with the spin doctoring and misdirection..

good luck with that.