OCTA/Metrolink project team works with contractors to place plastic tarps on hillside to prepare for heavy rain, as stabilization work continues to safely restore passenger rail service
What’s New:
Today (Wednesday, Jan. 31), weather-proofing continued on the slope above the rail line in San Clemente with the private property owners’ contractor placing plastic on the soil above the work area. The project team helped integrate the two efforts (please see images below).
The project team has completed all the initial grading and excavating of soil, while also restoring the culvert system on the hillside to allow water to effectively flow from the hillside underneath the track and to the ocean.
Though minimal, hillside movement continues to be recorded and with the impending rain, there is still no definitive timetable for passenger rail service to resume.
At the same time, state, county and local officials, along with OCTA and Metrolink personnel, are preparing for potential heavy rains, flooding and power outages from strong atmospheric river systems, following Governor Newsom’s move Tuesday to activate California’s Emergency Operations Center. State officials are warning that the two impending back-to-back storms may be only the beginning of a strong, wet weather pattern that could linger for up to two weeks.
The first of the storms, both products of vast airborne currents of dense moisture called atmospheric rivers, is expected to sweep over the Southern California coast on Thursday. The second one, forecast to arrive late Sunday, is anticipated to hit Southern California even harder.
Throughout the storms, personnel will be on site to monitor and inspect the hillside. With these steps, BNSF will once again be allowed to operate freight through the area at 10 mph between 9 tonight and 3 a.m. Thursday.
For Updates on Rail Service: Passengers are asked to check MetrolinkTrains.com and PacificSurfliner.com/Alerts for real-time updates.
Background: The rail line was closed through San Clemente the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 24, when a landslide on private property above the city-owned Mariposa Trail Pedestrian Bridge caused major damage to the bridge and scattered debris onto the track.
OCTA, which owns the track, worked with partners at Metrolink and contractors to quickly mobilize emergency crews, who used heavy machinery on the rails to remove debris and haul away two large spans of the bridge, each weighing 24,000 pounds.
Over the past three years, San Clemente’s eroding bluffs – on both city and private property – have repeatedly forced the closure of the rail line which has operated largely uninterrupted for more than 125 years. For more updates and background, visit www.octa.net/railupdates.
