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| One step closer to mile-long tunnel By MATT KAPKO Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, June 30, 2004 4:57 PM PDT Half Moon Bay Review One less bureaucratic hurdle now sits in the way of the Devil's Slide tunnel project, which is expected to take 10 years to complete. At its June 16 meeting, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board approved two mitigation measures meant to offset impacts to water around the project area along Highway 1. Approximately 0.97 acre of seasonal and permanent wetlands will be directly impacted by the tunnel's construction, with the largest impact occurring at the north end of the route within Shamrock Ranch. To stabilize the wetlands resource in the area, Caltrans (California Department of Transportation) will create new wetlands totaling 1.19 acres near the Montara Beach Outrigger restaurant on land owned by the Peninsula Open Space Trust. Caltrans expects to obtain easements from POST in time to begin implementation of the new wetlands by July 1, 2005. The water board also decided to create innovative methods for trapping pollution runoff from the construction and new roadway. Will Bruhns, senior engineer with the water board, said there are significant amounts of pollution runoff from roadways, but new methods for catching those undesirables are making things less damaging in regards to the water supply. Runoff from the construction project is a concern as well. New storm water drains will be designed along the roadway to help diminish the impact of pollution runoff. "These are pollution control activities," Bruhns said. In its report, the board wrote: "The discharge constitutes the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative that will achieve the basic project purpose." The section of Highway 1, Devil's Slide, which the new tunnel will divert, was originally built in 1937. The 3,280 feet of twisting road will be diverted by a 4,000-foot-long double-bore tunnel through San Pedro Mountain where it will connect with a 1,050-foot- long bridge on the north end in the watershed area of Shamrock Ranch in Pacifica. |