New Road Links Coast Highway to Irvine, UCI

Newport Coast Drive, a new $67-million road connecting Irvine to Coast Highway near Corona del Mar, opened Friday afternoon to spectacular fanfare, including a pyrotechnic ribbon-cutting and an extensive guest list of county dignitaries.

About 500 people marveled at the extravagant ribbon-cutting ceremony near the Newport Coast Drive’s picturesque intersection at Coast Highway. A huge red ribbon, stretched across the inland-bound lanes, was cut in half by a small blast, and fireworks exploded in the sky.

Members of the crowd praised the Irvine Co.’s new road as a thoroughfare that will benefit commuters countywide.

“Newport (Coast) Drive will make life easier in the future. It will improve our quality of life. I really believe that,” said Donald Bren, chairman of the Irvine Co., who made a rare appearance at the opening festivities.

Bren, who talked about great roads during a post-luncheon speech, won chuckles from the audience for his recital of lyrics from some famous road songs, including “Hit the Road, Jack” by Ray Charles.

Newport Coast Drive, which was once rural Pelican Hill Road, is expected to eventually handle about 56,000 cars daily once the Newport Coast resort and residential community, an Irvine Co. development, is completed, company officials said.

Likewise, it will divert about one-third of the rush-hour traffic that often congests Coast Highway in Corona del Mar.

The new road, which was opened to commuters at 3 p.m. Friday, was built in part to help accommodate traffic to and from the Newport Coast community, which will include about 2,600 homes and apartments, a pair of hotels and two 18-hole golf courses, one of which opens this weekend.

“The opening of the Newport Coast Drive today marks another achievement in the county’s efforts to help relieve traffic congestion, and at the same time protect the natural environment for generations to come,” County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley said during the noontime event.

The 6-mile scenic drive will serve as an alternate route for motorists commuting from Coast Highway to UC Irvine, John Wayne Airport and the Irvine Business Complex.

Winding from Coast Highway just south of Corona del Mar to MacArthur Boulevard near UCI, Newport Coast Drive passes through the country-like landscape with intersections at Bonita Canyon Drive and San Joaquin Hills Road.

Local business leaders praised the new roadway.

“I think all of Corona del Mar should be delighted about the opening of Newport Coast Drive,” said Luvena Hayton, a board member of the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce. “It will be a much safer community now.”

Hayton added that highway safety will help local businesses, which is one reason the chamber strongly supported construction of the road.

Said Richard Luers, president of the Newport Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce: “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that it will be a big, big help. You just have to drive up Coast Highway in Corona del Mar one morning at 7 a.m. and try to make it to Newport Center. I think it will be a great drive, as well as a wonderful road.”

A New Road for the Coast Newport Coast Drive (formerly Pelican Hill Road) opened Friday, offering commuters a way to bypass traffic-choked Corona del Mar and reach John Wayne Airport, the Irvine Business Complex, UC Irvine and other points north.