Corona del Mar : Ground Breaking for Road Planned
A ground-breaking ceremony is scheduled Tuesday for the long-awaited, 6.1-mile Pelican Hill Road that will link Pacific Coast Highway to MacArthur Boulevard near UC Irvine.
The $50-million road is expected to divert 10,000 cars per day from a section of Pacific Coast Highway in Corona del Mar.
The 11 a.m. ceremony will be attended by Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, Newport Beach Mayor Don Strauss and Irvine Co. Senior Vice President Gary Hunt, according to the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce, event sponsor.
People attending the ceremony will be shuttled to the site from the Los Trancos parking lot on Pacific Coast Highway.
A noon luncheon is scheduled to follow the ceremony at the Balboa Yacht Club.
The road project, which includes upgrading and widening Bonita Canyon Road, is scheduled for completion in December, 1990.
Pelican Hill Road has figured prominently in many debates over the Irvine Co.’s plans to expand Newport Center, and in discussions over whether the city of Irvine or the city of Newport Beach should annex the Pelican Hill area, which is scheduled for both commercial and residential development.
The Irvine Co. has argued that Pelican Hill Road, along with other planned traffic improvements, will ease congestion sufficiently to allow expansion of Newport Center, while environmentalists say it will benefit mostly new development.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
