Central Balboa Island buzzes with activity as $33-million utility undergrounding project moves ahead

Central Balboa Island is teeming with construction activity as a project to underground utilities continues in the endeavor to move overhead power lines out of sight in Newport Beach’s Assessment District 124.

A 50-block area between Agate Avenue and Grand Canal is Phase 1 of the project, which got underway on Feb. 12. It encompasses the 100 block of Marine Avenue between Park Avenue and the South Bayfront and Grand Canal alleys. The targeted completion date for the work, which carries a $33-million price tag, is June 17, 2025.

Phase 1 of the underground utility project is in full swing as a construction crew works on the South Bayfront alley near Marine Avenue on Friday, alongside existing power poles.

(Susan Hoffman)

Work started last winter on the North Bayfront portion of this district, according to Michael Sinacori, project manager and assistant city engineer for the city of Newport Beach.

“We just completed the entire North Bayfront last week,” Sinacori said. “We worked from February 2023 until June 2023, then stopped and restarted the area between Onyx and Grand Canal in January 2024 and just finished this past week.”

Sinacori noted the record rainfall in January had not been helpful when workers were trying to finish the final piece along North Bayfront.

A map showing the area of the utilities undergrounding work on Balboa Island.

(Courtesy of the city of Newport Beach)

The city’s phasing map for the undergrounding project shows a Phase 0, which refers to North Bayfront from Collins to Grand Canal. “Really, it is part of Phase 1, but we released it to construction to expedite things last winter,” said Sinacori. “It really was a game changer for this project.”

Balboa Island resident liaison to the project Lee Pearl explained the West End work is now complete, with the exception of pole removals dependent on nonelectric utility companies, such as cable and internet, connecting to homes and removing wires. Once poles are gone, new pavement will be installed.

“The Central Balboa Island Underground project has three phases,” Pearl explained, adding that closing the Marine Avenue entrance bridge and North Bayfront alley during Phase 0 had been the most disruptive to traffic.

“It was smart to do the worst part, first water line and electrical and now that alley will be open throughout the project except for final paving.”

Balboa Island Park Avenue is closed to cars heading west as drivers in the south-side lane navigate around the underground utility project crew.

(Susan Hoffman)

Pearl said one of the most difficult challenges has to do with a few electrical vaults on Park Avenue.

“The city is working with the contractor to deal with the traffic issues,” Pearl said. “Most of it is a learning curve, trying to keep traffic moving when the contractor needs to cross a street with the trench or place the vaults in the holes.”

The expectation, according to Pearl, is that once the Park Avenue vaults have been completed, there should be fewer traffic issues.

He added that there have been some odor issues while the trenches are dewatered to allow the digging and that the contractor has been adjusting the system to reduce the odor as much as possible.

Members of the underground utility construction crew lay cable pipes near Little Island bridge on Park Avenue on Friday.

(Susan Hoffman)

Phase 2 will include the 200 and 300 blocks between Grand Canal and Diamond Avenue. Sinacori said the timing of that phase depends on the progress of Phase 1, but the city plans to start it in either the spring or fall of 2025.

“[It] could be 12 to 18 months after they start to finish Phase 2. Connections by residents will be after that. Overall completion is in early 2028,” he said.