OCTA to host public input meeting on coastal rail’s troubles, more talks around erosion planned – Orange County Register

The Orange County Transportation Authority will host a meeting in San Clemente on Tuesday, July 15, to discuss efforts to protect the regional rail line through the beach town for the next three decades.

OCTA’s Coastal Rail Resiliency Study is evaluating strategies to keep trains running along seven miles of vulnerable track that trace the coastline between Dana Point and the San Diego County line and Tuesday’s event is seeking public input.

The study is distinct from ongoing emergency work at areas the agency determined needed immediate reinforcement because of threats to the rail line from coastal erosion and sliding of privately owned hillsides above the tracks.

Already, 5,900 tons of rip rap rocks have been put down along the tracks on the north end of town as part of that $300 million effort.

A 1,400-foot long catchment wall is planned in coming months where the Mariposa bridge was destroyed to hold back debris from the hillside and in the same area on the north end of the coastal town an estimated 240,000 cubic yards of sand will be added, though a source and price tag for sand has yet to be determined.

Plans to bring even more rock boulders to line the tracks, an engineered revetment and another big shot of sand are also planned for the southern end of town, but the California Coastal Commission deemed that portion of the project not an emergency, so it must go through regular permitting processes.

“Repeated weather-related closures in San Clemente since 2021 underscore the need for both immediate fixes and forward-looking solutions,” OCTA officials said announcing the public meeting for the longer-term resiliency study.

The feedback from the meetings will help shape draft alternatives and a final feasibility report expected in 2026, agency officials said.

A separate effort led by the state will look at solutions beyond the next 30 years, including potentially moving the rail line inland in south Orange County.

Suzie Whitelaw, founder of Save Our Beaches San Clemente, was glad to hear the two-year study was back on track, after emergency work needs slowed progress.

The citizen advocacy group has been championing sand replenishment over the use of rock revetments in OCTA’s plans to provide a buffer between the ocean and the tracks.

“We are hoping to see some revised alternatives that protect both the tracks and the beach,” she wrote in an e-mail update.

Whitelaw also noted that a new CoastSnap citizen science program station will be unveiled in an event at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, June 18, at the San Clemente Pier as part of an ongoing effort to study and understand beach erosion along the coast.

Pier walkers can stop and take photos at the location to help track how the coastline is changing through time as storms, tides and sand replenishment affect the beach.

The installation consists of a cradle to hold a cell phone in a specific position, and signage with a QR code for uploading the photographs to the database. Scientists at UC Santa Barbara will be using this data for long-term, large-scale monitoring and research of the coast.

The installation was made possible by a grant from the San Clemente Woman’s Club, with efforts from Save Our Beaches SC and the city’s Public Works Department.