As they announced last week what would do on April 26th, the Army Corps of Engineers blocked off all vehicular and pedestrian access to Newport’s South Jetty Road extension. The Corps, reacting to the recent loss of life by people being swept off the jetty itself farther to the west, and the emergence of sink holes in the dirt and sand road that extends beyond the pavement, they erected a cable housing that crosses the travel part of the extension and placed large river boulders to the left to deny access through a muddy corridor.
Corps officials in Portland said all jettys are dangerous and are not suitable for recreation. They say sneaker waves and sets of large waves can hit the jetty with great force, knocking unwary walkers or fishers into the water. A couple from Portland was swept off the jetty to their deaths last September. Over the years, many others have suffered an identical fate. The Corps also cited emerging sinkholes along the dirt and sand extension road as being extremely dangerous.
However, Surfrider Foundation Oregon Field Manager Charlie Plybon wrote a letter of protest to the Corps requesting they not erect a barrier to an area that has been a recreational area for thousands of central Oregon Coast residents and visitors, the easterly in-channel section especially. Plybon urged the Corps to take this into consideration in addition to noting that the Corps gave only a few days notice of their intention to block the road without any public comment or involvement.
