Uploaded: Mon, Sep 6, 2021, 7:45 am 0
Updated: Tue, Sep 7, 2021, 11:38 am
Time to read: about 3 minutes
Tunitas Creek Beach, situated along the bluffs between Half Moon Bay and San Gregorio on San Mateo County’s coastside, will soon undergo a public-access makeover, if a county parks department-led initiative moves forward as planned.
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors in February approved plans to add a walking path to the beach, restrooms, a ranger residence, a parking lot, and, midway down the bluff, a flexible space with tiered seating that could be used for people to gather for picnics or educational events.
Now the project’s leaders are moving forward with securing environmental documents and permits with plans to begin construction as soon as summer 2022, said representatives from the San Mateo County Parks Department and the Peninsula Open Space Trust at a recent informational event. Those agencies have worked closely with each other and with the community to develop and move the plans forward.
Construction is estimated to cost about $7 million and require $1 million in ongoing operations.
A key part of the project is a pedestrian route from the parking area off of State Route 1 to the beach, which currently would also include a roughly 1,300-foot ADA-accessible pedestrian path to the middle portion of the bluff.
As planned, the pedestrian path will continue all the way to the beach, but it won’t be able to offer fully ADA-compliant wheelchair access, said Taylor Jang, stewardship project manager at the Peninsula Open Space Trust.