Caltrans to Meet With Laguna Officials on Canyon Road Safety

California Department of Transportation and Laguna Beach officials will meet next week to discuss the next step in trying to make Laguna Canyon Road safer without widening it.

The city waged a successful protest Wednesday at a hearing of the California Coastal Commission, which voted 6 to 5 to reject Caltrans’ proposal to widen the scenic road from two lanes to four lanes on a 2.3-mile stretch from El Toro Road to Canyon Acres Drive.

The commission suggested that city officials work together with Caltrans to agree on safety measures.

But Keith E. McKean, Orange County district director for Caltrans, said Thursday about road changes already endorsed by the City Council: “I’m afraid those aren’t safety measures. If part of that is putting in a median on the road as it is, that’s just completely impractical.”

Median Alone Opposed

McKean said as long as the road is under the state’s jurisdiction, Caltrans could never agree to a concrete median without widening the road, which connects Laguna Beach to the San Diego and Santa Ana freeways.

“Very honestly, I have a real concern about the status of that highway from a safety point of view,” McKean said, referring to several lawsuits that have been brought against the state and Laguna Beach.

He added: “There’s got to be some way to provide for drivers passing each other legally and safely. . . . If we (Caltrans) are precluded from doing that, then my feeling is it should not be a state highway.”

But, he also said Caltrans is willing to discuss safety alternatives with the city for the highway, California 133.

“We don’t have any preconceived idea. We’re not going to go away angry, and we’re not going to go away and hide ourselves. But we’ve already explored so many alternatives and so many things, I’m not sure what’s left.”

Caltrans had been seeking the Coastal Commission’s conceptual approval so the department could seek federal money for the $13-million widening.

But the city is promoting road improvements that would not include widening. These include: installing a concrete divider at the Big Bend curve, scene of many accidents; placing a traffic signal at Canyon Acres Drive; undergrounding utility lines; installing flashing caution lights and signs at each end of Big Bend; increasing the degree of banking at Big Bend, and improving drainage on the shoulder of the road.

City officials said after the meeting Wednesday that they hoped to find a compromise with Caltrans and the city’s road safety task force, which has been studying ways to improve the road.

City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said Wednesday that the task force was also seeking ways to pay for road improvements. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

McKean said if costs of road improvements are less than $250,000, he can authorize Caltrans to pay for them without approval from the state. He added that putting in “cosmetic improvements” such as caution signs and flashing yellow lights could easily come under that amount but that installing a barrier would raise the cost considerably.

Caltrans could not support installing a median for the highway in its present two-lane configuration, because there would not be enough room, McKean said: “There’s no place for a margin of error for the driver to correct it. As soon as you hit the barrier, you rebound, and the vehicle following would have nowhere to go.”

On freeways, Caltrans requires a 5-foot shoulder between the inside lane and the center divider, for that very reason.

McKean also said it is unlikely that Caltrans would agree to installing traffic signals on the road: “We know traffic signals cause accidents . . . and we can’t be in a position where we’re creating more accidents than we are eliminating.” The road has been the scene of many fatal accidents over the years, including a head-on collision last week in which two people died from their injuries.

But that accident occurred on a straight stretch of the highway north of El Toro Road, which was not part of Caltrans’ widening proposal.