Locals who took the trip down to Newport Beach for their appeal of State Parks” plan to spend some $750,000 to rip out the northern remnants of the Old Haul Road were disappointed.
“Hard to believe the California Coastal Commission approved a permit that will allow State Parks to destroy a 2.5 mile coastal trail. Yep! The northern Haul Road in the Ten Mile dunes will be nothing but a memory soon,” wrote Thad Van Bueren, a Westport archeologist who has led volunteer events for State Parks in the past.
Van Bueren has announced a walk/bicycle ride on the northern haul road this Saturday, Nov. 23, at 10 a.m.
Staff of the California Coastal Commission has advised there was “no significant issue” in the appeal filed by local opponents of State Parks” plans to remove the old Haul Road north of Ward Avenue, leaving intact the portion under Ten Mile River Bridge.
Appellants Van Bueren, Stanley Anderson and Eric and Deborah Freeman all reportedly went to Newport Beach for last week”s session of the three-day California Coastal Commission November meeting.
Locals objected to the realignment of the California Coastal Trail from the haul road to the soft sand on the beach. They said the project may uncover hazardous wastes and unleash a mountain of sand migration inland.
State Parks refuted their claims, presenting science that showed the sand dunes are two separate regimes now, in which sand from the beach no longer joins with sand in the housing areas. Residents refuted that with reports and photographs of sand migration.
Parks has promised to try to hire local contractors for the big job, which is to dig up and truck away 2.7 miles of three remnant road pieces, totaling 25,000 cubic yards of asphalt, gravel and road bed. That would total about 2,500 dump truck loads (or about 675 million pounds) being carried across the sensitive habitat, under the bridge and out on a road east of the highway.
Thousands of tons of sand will have to be removed from the existing road first to allow access by heavy equipment. Where the roadway ends a ramp made of natural rock material will be trucked in to move tractors and dump trucks across wet sand on the beach below in order to reach stranded remnants of the old haul road at the southern end of the Ten Mile Dunes Preserve.
Materials removed during the project may be temporarily stockpiled within the project area on sites selected to avoid sensitive resources.
Reusable rock and sand may be hauled about 20 miles south to the old quarry site on State Parks” property at Big River to be used for future park projects, or to a second disposal site that has been identified (although not yet publicly) that is approximately 5 miles from the project area, and located on private property within the Ten Mile watershed.
The alternative disposal site consists of ranch and timber roads that are in need of surface rocking. A non-industrial timber management plan is in place to address the environmental requirements associated with rocking the roads.
The old haul road was built in 1949 over a railroad grade in use since 1916. Railcars and later big trucks were used to deliver logs from Ten Mile River to the Union Lumber Mill in Fort Bragg.
State Parks began buying land to add to MacKerricher in the 1970s and completed the process by the mid-1990s. Until the late 1980s, the road provided a hard surface for bicycles or walkers all the way from the western end of Ward Avenue to Ten Mile Bridge.
Saturday event
Van Bueren said the weather forecast shows sun for Saturday. There is plenty of parking on the southwest side of the road at Ten Mile Bridge, which Caltrans used as a staging area for the construction of the bridge.
“We will meet on the haul road where it crosses under the Ten Mile Bridge. Dogs are banned in the preserve, so please don”t bring them,” Van Bueren said. “Dress warm because there could be some wind. Bring water, snacks, cameras and binoculars as appropriate.
“The Ten Mile River has been blocked by a sand bar for a month, but perhaps we will see it break through on this trip. Please reserve parking along the rock quarry road for the handicapped. I”m sure there will be many willing to assist our friends who may require wheelchairs to enjoy the day.”
Van Bueren said this is not an effort to revive the protest.
“This will be an informal event to simply enjoy the trail while it still exists. See it all, or take a shorter hike or bicycle ride. Be aware that sand covers some portions of the road starting at the big curve near the mouth of the Ten Mile River. But there are long stretches on the route south that remain largely open.”
