Harbor District pitches four parking options as Caltrans seeks 75 replacement spaces; public favors west-side alternatives

The San Mateo County Harbor District and Caltrans held a public listening session to discuss options for increasing safe public parking near Pillar Point Harbor and Surfers Beach and to clarify Caltrans— role in mitigating parking lost to the SR-1 rehabilitation project.

"It is important to know that the Pillar Point Surfers Beach safe parking project is a Harbor District project," San Mateo County Harbor District General Manager Jim Pruitt told the meeting, adding the board has not made any final decisions about location or design. "No final decision has been made with respect to the Pillar Point Surfers Beach safe parking project." (Jim Pruitt, 00:11:44)

Caltrans project manager Kelly Ma said the state paving and roadway rehabilitation for Highway 1 between Moss Beach and Half Moon Bay will begin next month and is a separate project, but noted the agency—s Coastal Commission permit requires Caltrans to work with local entities on identifying at least 75 free public parking spaces "as part of our commitment with the California Coastal Commission." She said Caltrans has no committed parking solution yet. (Kelly Ma, 00:05:15)

The Harbor District summarized four options: separated shoulder parking within Caltrans right-of-way, a parking area on the Burnham Strip with access from Avenue Alhambra, a Burnham Strip layout with Highway 1 access, and use of several launch-ramp/harbor-side parcels adjacent to the…