For many motorists traveling on Laguna Canyon Road, Tuesday was just another summer day, the greenbelt of a coastal wilderness park providing the scenic views many cherish when heading into Laguna Beach.
But for those tasked with ensuring an oft-traveled stretch of roadway remains safe, it was a day a dozen years in the making.
State and local officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the completion of $43.9 million in improvements to a 1-mile stretch of Laguna Canyon Road. The work is geared toward enhancing safety for bicyclists, motorists and pedestrians, and mitigating fire risk.
The project added an auxiliary and bike lanes and pedestrian paths between El Toro Road and the State Route 73 toll road. The work also included improved drainage systems and undergrounding communication and power lines, which are known fire hazards.
State, county, local and Caltrans officials participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark completion of Laguna Canyon Road improvements on Tuesday.
(Don Leach | Staff Photographer)
A new entrance was constructed for Anneliese Schools, allowing for traffic to be directed onto El Toro Road.
“It is a very well-traveled road, very critical to work, school, tourism and for residents who live here,” said Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley, who added that the county contributed about $11 million toward the project. “The improvements … are incredibly important to the safety of this area, for access to the area. This day marks 12 years in the making, and so I think it’s a great milestone.”
California Department of Transportation officials said the project received $12.3 million in federal support and $301,000 from the state.
Laguna Canyon is one of three routes in and out of Laguna Beach. It connects the community to the 405 Freeway and is a primary evacuation route.
Laguna Canyon Road, between El Toro Road and State Route 73, shows no power poles and an extra traffic lane following Laguna Canyon Road improvements.
(Don Leach | Staff Photographer)
The project burried power lines underground, and city officials have shown interest in undergrounding the remaining stretch of the roadway heading toward downtown.
California Transportation Commissioner Lee Ann Eager, who attended the ceremony, recalled a recent visit to Paradise, which was ravaged by the Camp fire in 2018.
“We talked to the people that were there that day, and the biggest issue they had in getting people out of Paradise when the fires came was that their electrical poles fell down in the middle of the road,” Eager said. “We said we’re not going to do that here. We’re not going to allow that to happen here.”
California Transportation Commissioner Lee Ann Eager makes remarks about the Laguna Canyon Road improvements Tuesday.
(Don Leach |Staff Photographer)
Laguna Beach has explored taking control of Laguna Canyon Road, executing a relinquishment intent letter with Caltrans. Community meetings have explored undergrounding utility lines, multi-modal transportation options and traffic calming measures such as crosswalks and signal enhancements.
A city consultant in 2020 estimated the costs of those improvements at $140 million to $150 million.
Caltrans has given Laguna Beach an additional six months to accept a $14.4-million offer — an amount that represents bringing the road to a “state of good repair” — for the relinquishment of the thoroughfare, City Manager Dave Kiff said.
Officials would seek funding opportunities at the local, state and federal levels, as well as through public utility funds like targeted undergrounding programs to help offset the costs of improvements, he said.
Laguna Beach Mayor Mark Orgill makes comments and thanks partners during a ceremony for Laguna Canyon Road improvements.
(Don Leach | Staff Photographer)
“We’d never be able to do it if it weren’t for [targeted undergrounding] money from [Southern California Edison],” said Kiff, adding the utility has assigned money to lower the road but requires a project in order to release the funds.
Caltrans, Kiff said, has not allowed for utility lines to be placed beneath its own roads, noting that the agency prefers not to shut down traffic.
The narrowing roadway heading into town makes it challenging to accommodate the container-sized vaults necessary for installing underground utilities alongside it.
“Ideally, if we had our druthers, we wouldn’t take over the roadway at all,” Kiff said. “Caltrans would just say, ‘OK, you can put the lines under our facility.’”
State, county and local officials attend a ceremony to mark completion of Laguna Canyon Road improvements.
(Don Leach | Staff Photographer)
The city manager said Laguna Beach first wants a “better understanding” of insurance liabilities.
The city could also choose to pursue options that do not include undergrounding the rest of the road.
“We could leave them up, harden the poles and put covered conductors up there, which would help,” Kiff said. “We also think we could leave the transmission lines up and just take down the distribution, the communications lines.
“If you think about the communications lines, these are the ones that people hit. They’re closer to the road. There’s more of them. If we could get those underground, we’d underground half of the lines. Maybe we don’t need to have the relinquishment for that.”