You probably saw the large swath of newly cut tree stumps recently in the beloved Laguna Canyon and thought, “What have they done?”
Yes, Caltrans is doing its job, widening Laguna Canyon Road from El Toro to SR-73. Why? Because it needs it.
Eventually, a similar project is going to happen from El Toro to Canyon Acres Drive. (Read related story.)
If everything goes according to plan, there will be two outbound lanes instead of one. Caltrans will also underground the utilities so no more fires or wayward cars hitting poles. There will be new proper bike lanes and storm control features.
The $14 million project should be finished by May 2025. Work will only be done from September to May, avoiding summer traffic.
Allegedly, there won’t be any road closures (during the day) so construction impacts will be minimal. All the work will take place behind concrete barriers.
So what’s the catch? None, really, except maybe for the loss of a few shaggy trees and the impression that Laguna Canyon Road is slowly turning into a freeway.
But is it? When Irvine keeps adding thousands of homes – all believing Laguna is its backyard beach – then it doesn’t matter what happens to Laguna Canyon Road. It will be a parking lot until we ban cars.
If the plan holds – and it looks like it will – at least bike riders will be safer, and we will get rid of the archaic fire poles.
The new road changes to the north seem like a reasonable, balanced approach. Inbound traffic will still be heavy during the summer from the 73 because of the single lane. But if/when the Canyon Acres portion gets built, look out.
We might actually reach 7 million legit tourists a year instead of the dubious 6 million we have now.
