Metrolink, Amtrak to reopen tracks in San Clemente after 7-month closure
Commuter trains will be chugging along the railway through San Clemente beginning Monday after a 7-month closure to fix slipping tracks.
The emergency work was done at Cotton's Point in San Clemente, below former President Richard Nixon's "Western White House." The closure suspended all Metrolink and Amtrak service between south Orange and San Diego Counties.
"This rail corridor is critical for every reason," said State Senator Catherine Blakespear, who represents Orange and San Diego Counties.
The stretch of tracks is critical for transportation, the economy and the environment. Experts said coastal erosion is moving the section closer to the sea.
According to satellite imagery from UC Irvine's Flood Lab, since the 1990s the beach that once stood between the tracks and the ocean has slowly eroded to the point where the water splashes next to the track today. As the beach has practically disappeared, UCI engineering professor Brett Sanders is working with local leaders to come up with a solution.
"We have the greatest resource in California here, which is our coastline," said Sanders. "And taking care of the coastline needs to be a priority so I'm interested in understanding our sand supplies and making sure our coast has adequate supplies from inland areas. We're starting a nourishment project which will help restore some of the natural levels of sand that had protected the coastline."
Officials spent $13 million to stabilize a weakened cliff next to the damaged tracks. On Thursday, a federal railroad administrator came to see it all for himself. San Clemente Congressman Mike Levin and Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley were working to get funds to study whether the tracks should be relocated.
"We are going to continue to work toward sand replenishment," said Foley. "And as the years go by and we're continuing to add more."
Foley added that they will also look for places to source the sand from such as places with surpluses or even flood channels.