The staircase will replace an eroded one with prefabricated steps.

Torrey Pines State Beach is getting a new staircase. The California Coastal Commission approved the state Department of Parks and Recreation’s project Nov 15, greenlighting the construction of a new 40-foot long elevated public staircase over the existing steps at the western end of a beach access trail.

The three-quarter-mile beach trail at the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve descends about 300 feet from the park’s blufftop plateau area down to the beach, including about 40 feet of at-grade steps near the end through a slot canyon to a coastal bluff shelf, from which a permeable metal stairway leads down to the beach.

The project will replace the failing at-grade stairway in the slot canyon, degraded by erosion, with a new elevated, permeable, prefabricated stairway constructed of fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP).

The new elevated stairway will be placed over the existing at-grade steps, abandoning the existing steps in place and placing cobble atop them to redirect runoff.

The prefabricated stairs will not be anchored into the canyon walls. No changes to the separate, permeable metal stairway to the beach are proposed.

The new prefabricated FRP staircase will be situated above grade, allowing runoff to continue to flow down the slot canyon without damaging the stairway.

Surfrider Foundation wrote a letter of support for the project, noting “the existing staircase has become a safety hazard and is in need of replacement.”

Surfrider commended the proposal’s “thoughtful approach to design a safer, minimally invasive replacement that requires no armoring and is above-grade to allow storm runoff to flow underneath.”

A specific timeline for the project is not yet available; the Coastal Commission’s conditional approval indicated work could not be done between Memorial Day and Labor Day, during the peak season for beach visitors.

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