A possible new route for the Foothill South toll road through part of Camp Pendleton has been rejected by the Navy, sending Orange County’s tollway agency back to the drawing board to try to complete its toll road network.

The Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency began working on the new proposed route after state and federal officials rejected its previous proposal in 2008.

That road would have cut through San Onofre State Park, igniting fierce opposition from State Parks officials and conservationists.

The new proposal gets around that problem in a novel way: by changing the boundaries of the park itself. The new road would shift the northeastern park boundary to the west to make room for the toll road, then add acreage to the park’s southern section — overall, a net gain of about 14 acres for the park, which is leased to the state by the Navy.

“The lease has been modified numerous times,” said the toll road agency’s engineering manager, Paul Bopp, including in 1977 and 1985. “Ultimately, that’s how we get out of the state park.”

On Friday, however, the tollway agency released a copy of a Feb. 22 letter from Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., rejecting the plan.

“Based upon the thorough review and the fact that Camp Pendleton training is already constrained by environmental and other restrictions, I have determined that the proposed new TCA route would unacceptably impact the Marine Corps’ ability to train and prepare for all contingency operations,” Mabus wrote.

The affected land, known as the Sierra Training Area, is used for improvised explosive device training, field operations and land navigation, he wrote; future uses could include training with heavy equipment and convoy operations.

Tollway agency officials said Friday they view the letter as an opening to discussions with the military about a possible Pendleton route, not a final rejection.

“It was designed as a talking point, a concept,” agency chairman Peter Herzog said of the new proposal. “Quite frankly this letter provides us with what we’ve been asking for. Now we look forward to getting the engineers down to work to look into those issues.”

He said the tollway agency would continue talking to the military and try to modify the proposal to meet their concerns. Other possible routes that don’t go through Camp Pendleton might also one day be considered, he said.

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