News Subscribe to Our Newsletter Sign up for Email Updates CGF In the News Press Inquiries Past Articles Calendar			Half Moon Bay Review September 18, 2002   Feds finally say  yes to tunnel plan By Emily Wilson Six years ago, April Vargas was one of the key people  working on the campaign for two tunnels through San Pedro Mountain to  replace a stretch of Highway 1 along Devil's Slide. On Monday, she was on a site visit to Devil's Slide  when she heard the news - that the federal government had approved the  tunnels as the official project. "We just went 'Yippee!'" Vargas said. "We were so relieved because it's been a really  long and comprehensive process. On one hand it's really prudent that Federal  Highways took such a long time reviewing the documents, but on the other  hand it was a really long time to wait." Devil's Slide, a part of Highway 1 from Montara to  Pacifica, has periodically had landslides and slippage since it opened  in 1937. In 1996 voters approved the tunnel with Measure T. On Friday the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA)  made it official. It signed off on a record of decision that makes the  tunnel, not the bypass, the official Devil's Slide project. "This really is the key step," said Lennie  Roberts, legislative advocate for the Committee for Green Foothills. "Now  they can proceed full-bore with final design component. This sets the  process in motion for the whole funding package." "CalTrans has been working to implement the  will of the people," said San Mateo County Supervisor Rich Gordon.  "The decision by Federal Highways confirms that the will of the people  will be implemented." "This means that CalTrans can go forward confidently  with the design process," said Jeff Weiss, a spokesman for CalTrans.  "This project is unique because we're allowed to do preliminary design  without a completed document because it is classified as an ongoing emergency,  but we still don't like to risk all that money and all that effort on  a project that has not been approved environmentally." "It's a surprise to most people how long the  process takes," Gordon said. "I think that the average citizen thought that  if we want this, it'll happen," he said. "It doesn't work that way. Most folks thought  they'd be driving through the tunnel by now, and we're still probably  another five years away." For the tunnel advocates, even though this news was  a long time coming, it was well worth celebrating. "This is really the step that authorizes the  project in the legislative and bureaucratic world," Roberts said.  "Hallelujah." Page last updated September 19, 2002 .