Upper Newport Bay Road Shut Because of Storm Damage

A hiking and cycling route along the eastern edge of Upper Newport Bay will be closed as long as two months because of heavy damage from last weekend’s record-setting rains, city officials said.

The road, Backbay Drive, hugs the bottom of the bluffs along the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Preserve.

On the segment south of San Joaquin Hills Road, storm runoff washed out about 100 feet of the roadbed, said David Niederhaus, Newport Beach’s general services director. Crews will need as long as two months to make repairs, he said.

“The flow from Fashion Island and the rest of that area was tremendous,” Niederhaus said. “It was raising manhole covers 3 to 5 feet in the air. There was a tremendous amount of water.”

The problem was exacerbated because, as a nature preserve, the Back Bay area has no storm drainage, he said.

On the northern segment of the road, near Eastbluff Drive, a section was covered by a small mudslide.

That will take only a few days to clear, Niederhaus said, but work crews might not get to it for two to three weeks because they must tackle the massive cleanup of 200 tons of debris clogging Lower Newport Bay and the harbor.

“The Boat Parade starts next week, and that comes first,” Niederhaus said. “The Back Bay has a very low priority.”

The Christmas Boat Parade, which begins Wednesday, attracts thousands of spectators to watch scores of decorated pleasure boats cruise the harbor.

Backbay Drive has been barricaded to keep out traffic. Crews will soon close it off with fencing to keep joggers and cyclists out as well, Niederhaus said.

The road’s 10-mph speed limit allows joggers, walkers and cyclists to share the road with vehicles.

For most of its 4 miles, the road runs just above the preserve, offering views of wading birds, ducks and other waterfowl in the saltwater marsh.