Wetlands restorations begin

Dave Brooks

A massive restoration project to reconnect the Pacific Ocean with a

1,247-acre wetland recently purchased by the state has brought about

a flurry of activity on Bolsa Chica State Beach.

Large construction cranes and temporary fences sit on a

near-mile-long stretch of the sand in preparation to build a bridge

on Pacific Coast Highway. The bridge will enable tidal waters to wash

into the former oil fields and eventually reinvigorate a wetlands

habitat that has sat near barren for decades.

But the construction efforts aren’t without headaches. Crews have

had to relocate a 4,000-foot stretch of the highway inland, forcing

many cyclists onto a beach path over concerns that the new detour is

too dangerous for biking. That’s prompted some frustration over

increased traffic on the highway, which already bottlenecks in the

northbound direction near the Warner Avenue intersection.

“The traffic has definitely gotten worse, and I think it’s

compounded by the fact that many people who use that stretch of road

don’t live in Huntington Beach and don’t understand what is going

on,” commuter Emma Sampson of Huntington Beach said while eating

lunch at the Secret Spot restaurant near the intersection. “A lot of

these people work in Orange County and commute back to Long Beach or

Palos Verdes. To them this is just more road construction. I don’t

think they’re connecting the gravity of this project.”

The construction has also diverted some cyclists onto a popular

beach path, after the wide highway shoulder was eliminated. Several

oil wells inland of the highway forced construction crews to redraw

narrow detour routes, and the bike lanes the cyclists used to enjoy

have been greatly reduced by concrete barriers. The new detour

doesn’t feel safe, several cyclists complained, but the beach path is

full of people enjoying the ocean and going to and from their cars.

“I am afraid I’m going to run over someone,” cyclist Peter

Northmond of Seal Beach said. “I can’t tell you how many close calls

I’ve had with guys holding surfboards. Many just aren’t paying

attention, and then when I get up close, it’s hard for them to get

out of the way.”

Lifeguards at Bolsa Chica State Beach said they’ve begun enforcing

a speed limit on the beach path, and will ticket repeat speeders.

The construction is part of a massive restoration project with the

Department of Fish and Wildlife Service to use more than $120 million

in mitigation money from the expansions of the Long Beach and Los

Angeles harbors, and voter-approved bonds to purchase and restore the

massive wetlands by reconnecting it to the ocean.

“I think people will really recognize this as a great project once

it’s completed,” Jack Fancher of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

said. “Temporary discomfort will give way to the long-term health and

sustainability of the wetlands.”

The highway bridge and a parallel oil service bridge are scheduled

to be completed by fall, and the jetties on the project should be in

operation by Spring 2006. Officials on the project hope to have

construction completed by Summer 2006.