NEWPORT BEACH : Work Scheduled on Coast Highway

Replacement of a decrepit sewer line running below Coast Highway began Monday and will tie up northbound traffic on the busy thoroughfare through Christmas, according to officials at the Orange County Sanitation District. Southbound lanes will not be affected.

Commuters traveling through the Mariner’s Mile business district should expect disruptions as workers contracted by the sanitation district begin tearing up the road later this week or early next week, said Tom Dawes, director of engineering at the district.

As a result, northbound traffic will be reduced from three lanes to two during rush hour and to a single lane during off-peak hours for much of the next three months.

“We expect that it will be a hardship on commuters,” Dawes said. Peak hours will be from 6 to 9:30 a.m. and from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The construction schedule has been designed to both minimize the impact of noise and to accelerate the pace of the sewer line replacement on the 1 1/2-mile stretch.

For example, some of the work will be done at night to minimize impacts on business along Mariner’s Mile. But while working near homes on Kings Road, work will be done during the day so that residents can sleep at night.

Sanitation district work is scheduled to be completed by Christmas so that Caltrans can begin resurfacing Coast Highway through Newport Beach in February, 1994.

Dawes said that next year, workers will return to replace sewer lines on the west end of Coast Highway from Newport Boulevard to 59th Street.