Danger: Road Construction Ahead

Speaking of Catalina, there are still no traffic lights in Avalon, and the preferred modes of transportation remain golf carts and walking.

But changes are afoot, so to speak. Workers have torn up Crescent Avenue along the bay front, as well as two streets that intersect it. The walk to Avalon’s landmark Casino Ballroom also has been ripped up for improvements. The main part of the work is nearly done, and a civic party to celebrate is scheduled for June 29, said Julien Foreman, a visitors bureau spokeswoman.

The designer, Robert Borthwick of Borthwick Guy Thibault in Irvine, said his company studied old photos to recapture the “whimsical” early California look created by chewing gum magnate Philip Wrigley, who developed Avalon with designer Otis Shephard.

The work has created a larger pedestrian-friendly area with more palm trees, brick benches, historically correct paving stones and hand-made reproductions of the famous Catalina tile once produced on the island.

About another week of work remains for the main part of the project, on Crescent Avenue and pedestrian malls on Sumner and Catalina streets. Work on the Casino Walkway is less disruptive and will continue through the summer, Foreman said.

Avalon is just one of many resort destinations ripped up this year in Southern California. Disneyland-area roads and freeways are a mess due to upgrade work, many Laguna Beach streets are being worked on and the main bridge to the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach is in the middle of an 18-month improvement project.

“I think the point is that with the economy good, people are spending money on better infrastructure all over,” said Elaine Vaughan, Catalina Express spokeswoman and a former board member for the California Travel Industry Assn.

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E. Scott Reckard covers tourism for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7407 and at scott.reckard@latimes.com.