Newport to tweak speed limits in a handful of locations

Newport Beach will change the speed limits on six stretches of road around town.

The City Council unanimously agreed Tuesday to the changes, which raise the limits in two areas and drop them in four, on staff’s recommendation following a routine state-mandated traffic survey last year.

The vast majority of local speed limits will remain the same. The approved changes are:

• Camelback Street in its entirety, increase from 35 to 40 mph
• MacArthur Boulevard from Ford Road to San Joaquin Hills Road, increase from 55 to 60 mph
• 15th Street from Superior Avenue to Monrovia Avenue, drop from 40 to 35 mph
• Newport Center Drive, from Coast Highway to the ring road around Fashion Island, drop from 45 to 40 mph
• Ford Road from Newport Hills Drive to San Miguel Drive, drop from 45 to 40 mph
• Newport Ridge Drive West from San Joaquin Hills Road to Newport Ridge Drive East, drop from 45 to 40 mph

California Vehicle Code requires cities to undertake comprehensive “engineering and traffic surveys” based on speed data, collision records and roadway conditions every few years. The city last approved such a study in 2011.

CdM, Balboa Island shuttles

Newport Beach will study the feasibility of neighborhood shuttles around Balboa Island and Corona del Mar through a public-private partnership that could include the city, Orange County and local merchants and communities.

The study — approved on a 6-0 vote — will cost $65,000 and be covered largely by a grant from the Orange County Transportation Authority. Balboa Island Marketing Inc. and the Balboa Island Improvement Assn. have tentatively agreed to chip in a 10% match, or $6,500.

Council members Jeff Herdman and Joy Brenner — who represent Balboa Island and CdM, respectively — also have offered to contribute some of their discretionary district funds, if needed. Councilman Kevin Muldoon recused himself from the vote, citing business interests.

If launched, the neighborhood “microtransit” system would be the second run by the city. Newport debuted its free seasonal Balboa Peninsula Trolley in 2017 to help ease traffic and parking congestion on the narrow peninsula and provide visitor convenience during the peak summer tourism season.

The county grant program that subsidizes the Balboa Peninsula Trolley could help fund the added routes, which would pick up passengers in a van or cart-style vehicle on a fixed route through the visitor-friendly areas.

Privately, the Irvine Co. runs the Free Rides Around Newport Center service, or FRANC, through the Fashion Island area. The five-passenger electric vehicles can be hailed from a phone app, similar to Uber or Lyft, and offer travel and stop options within the area.

Coast Highway bridge

The city also is moving ahead with the second of two footbridges planned for the intersection of Superior Avenue and Coast Highway.

On a 6-0 vote, the council gave staff approval to pursue a $780,000 OCTA grant to design and permit a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists that would span Coast Highway — approximately between Sunset View Park and the Jack in the Box. Councilman Kevin Muldoon recused himself, citing business interests.

If OCTA awards the grant, the city will need to chip in $420,000.

Traffic studies have shown that the intersection sees 48,000 vehicles a day on Coast Highway and 21,000 to 24,000 on the Superior Avenue-Balboa Boulevard legs. It also sees 600 pedestrians, with 470 of them crossing Coast Highway, and 90 cyclists, almost half of whom cross the highway.

In a separate but related project, the city picked up a $2.3 million federal grant, by way of OCTA, to go toward a bridge over Superior linking Sunset View and Sunset Ridge parks. The Superior bridge is part of a facelift for Sunset View that will include 64 more paved parking spaces — but not, after firm neighbor opposition, a small dog park.

The two bridges would replace the crosswalks in the area.

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