SAN CLEMENTE : Road May Not Close Until After Easter
With another delay in the start of work to shore up unstable cliffs above El Camino Real, city officials say they may wait until after Easter break to shut down the coastal highway.
The construction was scheduled to begin Monday after a delay last week, but the project has been postponed again while work crews prepare to excavate the bluffs, said City Manager Michael W. Parness. It will be Friday at the earliest before the start of the project, which will require the closure of El Camino Real, he said.
Local merchants have asked the city to wait until the weekend of April 14 to barricade the highway, saying that they are counting on the flood of tourists and surfers that annually visit the beachfront city during spring break week to help them recoup losses suffered during an earlier five-week closure of the road.
Parness said he is considering their request and will meet with the owner of the bluffs, the Lusk Co., today to finalize when El Camino Real will be closed.
“It’s a legitimate issue that we will be talking about,” Parness said. “This is not just another week for (the merchants). It’s a very special week in which they can make up for a slow winter.”
Many storekeepers near the mile-long stretch of affected highway say business plummeted during the previous closure in February.
The cost of stabilizing the eroding bluffs will exceed $2 million, officials said.
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