Caltrans

The California Department of Transportation on Monday will start resurfacing Laguna Canyon Road, between Forest Avenue and the 73 Toll Road. Asphalt grinding will go from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for three or four days, according to a city press release. Paving will begin Wednesday and carry on from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. There will be no work on weekends. The project is intended to repair worn pavement and enhance its longevity. The city expects the project to be completed by November.

Caltrans’ $1.8 million Coast Highway roadway pavement rehabilitation project in Laguna Beach has been suspended until March because of expected cold and wet weather during the winter months, Caltrans announced today. Laguna Beach city officials had asked that the project be halted during the holiday season, according to City Manager Ken Frank. The project has been under way over a five mile stretch on both sides of the highway from Vista del Sol to Aster Street, causing traffic jams and long waits for motorists.

A large electronic sign erected by Caltrans on Laguna Canyon Road is due be removed — after residents complained about it and city officials determined it was put in place without required permits. Caltrans representative Pam Gorniak said the sign — recently erected near the Dog Park and the Animal Shelter — is intended to give drivers current traffic conditions on the sometimes-congested road as well as estimated travel times to help ease heavy traffic. The sign is one of 13 placed in various high-congestion roads in Orange County, but it is the only one in a Coastal Zone and subject to Coastal Development permits, Gorniak said.

Broadway lane closures tied up traffic past El Toro Road for most of the week, and will again next week, said Steve May, director of Laguna Beach Public Works. Broadway was closed all or partially in downtown Laguna Beach while Caltrans conducted a paving project. Traffic was diverted to Forest Avenue, creating a traffic headache for drivers and causing long delays on Laguna Canyon Road. "Based upon the most current report from Caltrans, the grinding operations that caused the lane closures will be done this week," May said Wednesday.

City officials have not given up on constructing a sidewalk and bicycle path along South Coast Highway from Nyes Place almost to Ruby's Diner, despite Caltrans' rejection of a city proposal. The city will seek detailed direction from Caltrans, which earlier this month declined to approve an 800-foot-long sidewalk project submitted by the city that did not meet the state Department of Transportation standards. If Caltrans had approved the city's proposal, part of the cost would have been eligible for a grant from the Orange County Transportation Authority, which administers federal funds for projects in this area.

A small slice of Laguna Canyon will be up offered for big money when Caltrans opens bidding at $950,000 for the city's day labor site on July 23. City officials declined to comment Thursday on whether the city would submit a bid, but an agenda item relating to the site was being prepared for Tuesday's council meeting. Possible acquisition of the site has been listed for discussion in closed session in past months. "I can't comment on discussions in closed session," City Manager Ken Frank said.

Caltrans and the city avoided a head-on collision Tuesday. Both sides took a step back to allow negotiations to continue on the possible acquisition by the city of the Caltrans parcel on Laguna Canyon Road currently used as a day labor hiring center. A proposal to zone the property as open space was to have been discussed by the council over the objections of Caltrans. The emergency ordinance was tabled Tuesday until further notice. "I have pulled [the item] off the agenda and Caltrans has agreed to pull the parcel out of the auction until we have an opportunity to talk with them," City Manager Ken Frank said.

Laguna Beach will pay $5,040 per year in rent to the state to keep the Day Labor Center open on Laguna Canyon Road. After nearly a year of negotiations, officials recently came to an agreement with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) on how much rent the city will pay for use of the land. City Manager Ken Frank said the city will pay $420 a month for use of the site for one year. Frank was authorized by the City Council to negotiate the lease terms. The lease agreement was worked out last year and states the city will pay a monthly rent of whatever the "fair market value" for property in the canyon is. When the lease was written in 2006, the fair market value had yet to be determined.

The city has put in a formal $18,000 bid for the day labor site in Laguna Canyon owned by Caltrans. State law requires that the parcel be offered to certain public agencies. Bidding will be open for 60 days through mid-February. The city’s bid was mailed Jan. 9. “We have sent the letter indicating we are interested,” City Manager Ken Frank said. “They have received the letter, but they have to keep the bidding open to see if anybody else responds. If not, we will buy the property.

A proposed traffic signal has pitted Emerald Bay residents against one another, with supporters intending to pursue the installation, regardless of opposition from their neighbors. Supporters of the signal say it is the cornerstone of the proposal packaged by the Emerald Bay Special Services District and Emerald Bay Community Assn. boards as a safety project. Opponents say they would support other elements of the proposed project, which include landscaping, relocating the gate house further back on Emerald Bay property, adding an ingress lane to Shamrock Road, and extending turning and merging lanes on the highway.

The California Department of Transportation on Monday will start resurfacing Laguna Canyon Road, between Forest Avenue and the 73 Toll Road. Asphalt grinding will go from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for three or four days, according to a city press release. Paving will begin Wednesday and carry on from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. There will be no work on weekends. The project is intended to repair worn pavement and enhance its longevity. The city expects the project to be completed by November.

A Caltrans request for the city to sign a "freeway agreement" related to a toll road the city officially opposed was postponed at the Sept. 6 council meeting for additional research. The San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor (73 Freeway) was inherited by Caltrans from the Transportation Corridor Agency, which constructed it, but the standard freeway agreement was overlooked in the process, according to a staff report. "I couldn't understand what the agreement required, and I wasn't going to vote on it until I did," said Councilwoman Verna Rollinger, who requested the postponement.

On Aug. 26, a post on the Laguna Beach city website notified us about plans for road widening of Laguna Canyon Road at El Toro Road by Caltrans. Days later, the post reads "repaving" not "widening" but still offers no mention if the project complies with legal mandates for highways under the Complete Streets policy (DD-64 for Caltrans). Has Laguna Beach once again allowed Caltrans to shove more traffic down our throats? Under Caltrans, our village is bisected with Coast Highway, and now we wish to trisect the city with another four-lane super highway?

Dede Westgaard-Pike wept on Dec. 31 as she relived a night of terror and anguish suffered by her neighbors on Dec. 22. Westgaard-Pike was among the folks — many less fortunate than her family, whose home was not damaged — who attended a meeting called by City Manager John Pietig to identify, locate and determine the needs of the families devastated by the mudslides and flooding. They talked. The council and representatives of the Laguna Relief and Resource Coalition listened.

Traffic already moves too fast on Laguna Canyon Road, say city officials don't want to see it increased, particularly closer to town. The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to oppose three increases in speed limits proposed by Calrans for Broadway and stretches of the winding, heavily traveled road through the canyon, where speeding already occurs, city officials said. "I don't think we should encourage it," Councilman Kelly Boyd said. "There have been 40 accidents on the past three years between Canyon Acres and Forest Avenue, that police think are related to speed.

Caltrans suspended the Pacific Coast Highway resurfacing project in Laguna Beach until the weather warms up in early March. The project was supposed to be finished before the holidays, hopefully in November, Caltrans spokeswoman Tracy Lavelle told the City Council at the July 21 meeting. ?Don?t be here in December,? Mayor Pro Tem Toni Iseman advised. ?Our businesses will go crazy.? The holidays are the merchants? second biggest season. Lavelle assured the council that Caltrans was mindful of the impacts of the project on the city.

Swift action by city workers averted a disaster Tuesday. The crew rerouted sewage from a damaged Nyes Place Lift Station line to avoid a spill into the ocean at Victoria Beach. “It could have been much worse,” Water Quality Department Director Dave Schissler said. Schissler said the damage was caused when a Cutting Edge Communicator contractor punched a hole in the line, which feeds into the North Coast Interceptor, while boring to install fiber-optic cable, a water pressure process.

Caltrans Stimulus Paving Project in Laguna Beach Pollutes Air and Sea "Oh, Mr. Caltrans: Thank you sir, may I have another?" or "Christmas in November: Thank You Santa Caltrans!" The federally funded Obama stimulus paving project by State highway agency Caltrans in Laguna Beach constitutes cruel and unusual environmental punishment. This fiasco of this pitiful paving effort by the ironically-named All-American Asphalt has slipped into Twilight Zone mode: (1)