DANA POINT : PCH Slide Cleanup May Start in June

Repair work on a 15-month-old massive landslide that still covers Pacific Coast Highway with debris could start as soon as late June if written authorization of funding arrives this week, city officials said Wednesday.

Andy Anderson, the city’s emergency services coordinator, said that confirmation of funding from the federal government is the only significant hurdle preventing the city from seeking a contractor for the $3-million project.

“We’ve been given the verbal assurances that the money is there,” Anderson said. “But we don’t have the written authorization yet and we cannot proceed without it.”

The City Council voted 5-0 Tuesday night to approve the plans and specifications for what is now officially called the Coast Highway Landslide Remediation Project. Because the job includes clearing Pacific Coast Highway, the Federal Highway Administration will pay for it, Anderson said.

On Feb. 22, 1993, the bluff top along La Ventana street collapsed, destroying six homes and endangering many others. A 30-foot pile of rubble collapsed on to Pacific Coast Highway, 75 feet below, and remains there.

After months of bureaucratic haggling between the cities of San Clemente, Dana Point, Caltrans and the homeowners, an agreement on the plan to repair the bluffs and clear the highway was finally reached last February. Then, in April, the California Coastal Commission approved the bluff top repair project.

If the confirmation comes promptly, the city could still award the project to a qualified bidder by mid-June to get construction underway by the end of the month, Anderson said. At the earliest, the project could be finished and the highway reopened to traffic by January, 1995, Anderson said.