People driving down Valley View Street from Buena Park to Cerritos could soon see a smoother, easier drive after officials in three cities agreed to overhaul the major thoroughfare by repaving the aging street and repainting faded lines.
It comes after Buena Park city officials approved the overhaul, taking lead in efforts that impact La Palma and Cerritos.
The project will stretch down Valley View Street from Lincoln Avenue to Artesia Boulevard, which is about 2.85 miles – a stretch of road that’s heavily used by cars and trucks, especially since it connects drivers to the 91 and 5 freeways in the area.
According to the cooperative agreement, the purpose of the project is to extend the useful life of the road.
Buena Park Public Works Director Mina Mikhael also said that the project intends to bring a better driving experience.
“The main goal is to provide and enhance a corridor that serves multiple residents [and] businesses that stretches across three different cities, and to really revitalize such an important street that affects a lot of different travelers, both vehicles and pedestrians,” Mikhael said during a phone interview.
Buena Park Mayor Connor Traut said the rehabilitation project is going to be funded through the city’s 1-cent sales tax measure adopted by voters in 2024, known as Measure R.
“This is really just making sure that one of our poorest condition roads is repaved and meets the standards that the community deserves and meets the promise of Measure R to the voters,” Traut said during a phone interview.
Construction is projected to start in January 2027, and according to Mikhael, it is estimated to be completed in about four months. The city plans to minimize traffic caused by construction through a phased approach, only doing certain lanes at a time, or operating during off-peak hours.
According to the staff report, the total estimated cost of the project is about $4,700,000, and of this cost, La Palma’s share is estimated at $900,000 while Cerritos’ share is estimated to be $575,000.
The road will receive asphalt pavement rehabilitation, removal and replacement of damaged curbs and gutters, cross gutters, sidewalks, utility adjustments, signing and striping, traffic control plans, and additional signage.
Buena Park will serve as lead agency on the project as majority of the overhaul is within the city limits, and they are responsible for project coordination, design, construction and contract administration.
Valley View Street has an average Pavement Condition Index of 65, which is categorized as a “fair” condition, according to the 2026-2032 Citywide Pavement Management Plan. However, there are parts of the street that are in “poor” conditions.
Mikhael said the road has some structural failures, lots of asphalt cracking, line striping have faded, some landscape medians need attention, and some sidewalks and Americans Disability Act ramps are either broken or cracked.
Mikhael said that the project will not bring traffic light synchronization to the street – which helps ease traffic flow.
Instead, it will focus on the repavement of the road, and possible enhancements to signage and striping.
“It’s really focused on the paving of the road, the striping that gets installed afterwards and any of the signage,” Mikhael said.
In addition, Mikhael added that the city is looking at the potential of adding bike lanes to the street, but Valley View Street might be too narrow for an additional five to six feet bike lane accommodation.
”It’s a bit too tight, and I don’t think that we’ll probably have an opportunity for a designated bike lane along that stretch,” Mikhael said. “We’re still looking to see if there are certain areas where we could add it, where it could make sense, but we wouldn’t want to add bike lanes that lead to nowhere.”
Utility adjustments to the street refers to the leveling of manholes, pull boxes or water valves in the road to the same elevation to make it a smooth surface for cars.
“So when your car drives over [manholes, pull boxes or water valves], it’s not a big hump or bump, rather it’s [an] even surface with that new asphalt,” Mikhael said.
Improvements to the sidewalks will apply if there are any that are in need of repair.
“The intention is to maintain the existing accessibility,” Mikhael said.
Additionally, it will bring ramps compliant with the Americans Disabilities Act if current ramps are not compliant.
Mikhael said the project is an opportunity for the city to include non-complaint ramps in the project design to bring them up to code. This also applies to additional signage requirements.
Buena Park staff are still finalizing the project design and anticipate to start advertising for bids this month, according to the staff report. Part of the finalizing process of the design is determining if there is any need for up-to-code ramps and additional signage.
The responsibilities of La Palma and Cerritos include reimbursing Buena Park after the project is complete, and reviewing and approving plans for their portions of the project. They can also join Buena Park during inspections.
Traut said that when the city officials repave a road, they look to see what other ways they can enhance quality of life for nearby residents – like planting trees and flowers to not only boost aesthetics, but also reduce noise pollution.
“We’re not just doing one stroke of the brush over a neighborhood, but really seeing how we can entirely enhance the region.”
Lauren Contreras is a Voice of OC intern. You can reach her at laurencontreras615@gmail.com.
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