The California Coastal Commission voted against a project to extend a toll road from Orange County through San Onofre State Beach.

Commissioners voted 8-2 late Wednesday against the plan, thus casting a cloud over the project’s possibilities to obtain a coastal development permit, which is necessary before the construction can start.

According to critics, the road would mean the destruction of an ancient Indian burial ground, block sediment that creates waves at Trestles and would also devastate over a dozen of endangered or threatened coastal species.

The vote came after 12 hours of meeting, around 11:20 p.m. and almost 3,000 cheered the result, most of them surfers, environmentalists and union activists.

Officials from the toll road said that they will file for an appeal next week in order to keep the $875 million project standing.

Lance MacLean, chairman of the Foothill Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency, said: "It's not over yet. We still believe firmly that our project as proposed provides the best traffic relief in the most environmentally sound way," the Associated Press reports.  

The agency's chairman, Pat Kruer of Rancho Santa Fe, present at the meeting, voted against the plan, while the other commissioner, San Diego City Councilman Ben Hueso, wasn’t able to attend as he was feeling sick, signonsandiego.com informs.

People present at the meeting site had signs that read "Protect Our Parks" and "Highway from Hell." They’ve started to cheer and dance when the result of the vote was announced.  

Commissioner Sara Wan said before the voting took place: “When I look at this project, I can't believe it. This looks like something from the 1950s, not from now, when we know how endangered our planet is.”

The commissioners who supported the project believed that the road extension wasn’t a threat for the park.

William Burke, a commissioner from Los Angeles, said: “After listening to hours of testimony from both sides, there is merit on both sides. I'm not convinced (the park) is in jeopardy.”

The extension of 16 miles of the state Route 241 would connect Rancho Santa Margarita and San Onofre.

According to the Transportation Corridor Agencies, the powers authority which supervises this project, the road would be placed hundreds of yards from San Mateo campground, which is part of the 3,000-acre state beach.

Tom Margro, the toll road agency's chief executive officer, said: "The area is in gridlock most of the time. The fact that Southern California needs an alternative to the I-5 in this area has been known for decades."

Among the arguments presented at the meeting one was that the road would be an alternate route in case of a wildfire.