[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 19 (Wednesday, February 3, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E129]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 520--THE DEVIL'S SLIDE TUNNEL ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 3, 1999

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, we on the Pacific Coast of our nation face 
the periodic wrath of nature when the El Nino storms lash our coast. We 
faced that last year. We faced a similar series of El Nino winter 
storms in 1983 which wreaked havoc with our coast. I am sure my 
colleagues remember the images of Pacifica, California, in my 
Congressional District of homes sliding down cliffs into the pounding 
surf below.
  One of the most serious concerns along the Pacific Coast 12 miles 
south of San Francisco is the impact of these periodic storms upon a 
section of the Coast Highway, Highway 1, which is known locally as 
Devil's Slide. This part of the highway precariously hugs a cliff high 
above the pounding surf of the Pacific Ocean 600 feet below.
  In 1983, the winter storms forced the closure of Highway 1 at Devil's 
Slide for six months after a section of the roadway slipped into the 
ocean. In the winter of 1998 another series of winter storms resulted 
in the closure of the highway for several weeks.
  The closure of the highway at Devil's Slide has left residents and 
businesses dangerously isolated. Perennial closures of Devil's Slide 
have had a devastating effect on coastal communities and residents. 
Residents have endured unbearable commutes; access to emergency medical 
care and other services have been threatened; businesses have lost 
thousands of customers; and some businesses have failed as a result of 
the closure of the highway. For residents and businesses along the San 
Mateo County coast, it is vital to maintain the integrity of Highway 1 
in this area.
  Mr. Speaker, 16 years ago, in 1983, heavy winter rains left a 250-
foot-long crevice in the road which made the road impassible for 4 
months. Then Chairman of the Surface Transportation Subcommittee, Glenn 
Anderson, held a series of field hearings in Half Moon Bay and 
Pacifica, CA, and committee members carefully surveyed the unstable 
roadway which was sliding into the sea at a rate of 3 inches a day. 
Committee members viewed 8-foot-deep cracks and fissures in the roadbed 
and determined that this vital transportation link was eligible for 
emergency Federal funds. At my request, the Congress provided funding 
for the permanent repair of Highway 1 at Devil's Slide.
  The California Department of Transportation [CALTRANS] made temporary 
repairs to the roadway and proposed building a controversial 4.5 mile 
long bypass around Devil's Slide as the permanent repair. Many of the 
residents opposed the bypass on environmental and other grounds, and 
construction was delayed in the courts for over a decade. More 
recently, a false sense of security, brought on by 10 years of drought, 
ended in January 1995, when heavy rains again closed Devil's Slide for 
extended periods, disrupting the lives and livelihoods of tens of 
thousands of residents and businesses.
  Mr. Speaker, after public debate and lengthy lawsuits, the voters of 
San Mateo County resolved the conflict in a referendum in which the 
voters decided overwhelmingly in favor of the construction of a mile-
long tunnel at Devil's Slide rather than the earlier proposal for a 
bypass which would involve extensive cutting and filling of Montara 
Mountain. The referendum amends the local coastal plan, substituting a 
tunnel as the preferred permanent repair alternative for Highway 1 at 
Devil's Slide, and prohibits any other alternative unless approved by 
the voters. Following the release of a Federal Highway Administration 
sponsored study which found that the tunnel is environmentally feasible 
and its costs would not differ significantly from the costs of a 
bypass, CALTRANS reversed its opposition to a tunnel at Devil's Slide.
  Mr. Speaker, today I have introduced H.R. 520, the Devil's Slide 
Tunnel Act, to ensure that funds already appropriated and obligated for 
Devil's Slide will remain available to CALTRANS to build the tunnel at 
Devil's Slide. This legislation will provide greater flexibility to 
State transportation officials to use Federal funds already 
appropriated by Congress to fix this vital transportation link.
  Joining me as cosponsors of this legislation are bipartisan members 
of the Bay Area congressional delegation whose constituents are most 
affected by the Devil's Slide highway problem--my colleagues, Tom 
Campbell of San Jose, Anna Eshoo of Atherton, and Nancy Pelosi of San 
Francisco.
  Mr. Speaker, if local and state agencies and the citizens of a region 
determine that a better transportation alternative exists than the 
alternative for which funds have been obligated, as was the case for 
Highway 1 at Devil's Slide, then the Federal Government should provide 
greater funding flexibility, as long as all other Federal laws are 
complied with. It is important that we not permit these funds to lapse. 
The rebuilding of a severely damaged highway in its existing location 
may no longer be feasible, and in such cases funds already available to 
a community should continue to be available.
  History tells us that Devil's Slide will wash out again--it is only a 
matter of time. It is my hope that swift enactment of this legislation 
will ensure a permanent solution to the residents of the San Mateo 
County Coastside. I urge my colleagues to support the ``Devil's Slide 
Tunnel Act.''

                          ____________________