Virginia Way underground utility district formed in South Laguna

The Laguna Beach City Council this month gave the go ahead for the formation of a new utility undergrounding project, this time upon a key stretch of roadway in South Laguna.

The project will remove six utility poles and associated overhead wires along Virginia Way between 3rd Avenue and 5th Avenue, which city officials identified as a key evacuation route.

Just over an hour after it was presented with a comprehensive update on the current and future plans for wildfire mitigation and fire safety on May 6, the City Council adopted a resolution to establish the district.

The project will qualify for credits under the California Public Utilities Commission Rule 20A program, according to a city staff report. The CPUC states such work must be in the public interest and may eliminate a heavy concentration of overhead lines, involve a street with a high volume of traffic, or benefit a civic or public recreation area or area of unusual scenic interest.

Pierre Sawaya, the city’s capital program manager, said the Rule 20A program has been proposed to sunset, although the city had a balance of $857,979 in program credits from San Diego Gas & Electric.

“While the city had previously accrued credits on an annual basis, from SDG&E in this case, there are no additional credit accruals moving forward for such projects,” Sawaya added.

The program credits will fund land survey, design engineering and construction work tied to cabling and the removal of utility poles, according to a staff report. An SDG&E estimate for the work came in at $854,507.

“The impacted utilities are SDG&E, the electrical provider, Cox, Frontier, and also Crown Castle has a system running through Virginia Way in that area,” Sawaya said. “The project would provide underground connections to private properties that are currently fed overhead from the system out there today, and that connection would be provided at no cost to the property owners, which is consistent with 20A projects.”

At a glance, the city’s preliminary cost for the project is approximately $1.28 million, although city staff said another estimate would be provided after construction drawings were submitted. Funding for the city’s portion of the project would be set aside in the capital improvement program budget.

Staff projected the date of completion for the work to be August 2027. During the 27-month period, the steps will include design process, entitlements, the bidding for and completion of construction, and the removal of overhead facilities.

Resident Ann Christoph called on the council to close a two-block gap between 3rd Avenue and Eagle Rock Way along Virginia Way, noting the nearby West Street underground utility district.

“It is an evacuation route, … and it doesn’t seem fruitful to leave that undone when you’re going to be doing this portion,” Christoph said.

Sawaya said that adding blocks to the project could be possible, but it would necessitate more funding. When asked for an estimate to add the other two blocks by Councilman Bob Whalen, Sawaya responded the city could be looking at “possibly another $2 million.”

The council unanimously approved the engineer’s report and the use of the Rule 20A credits, adding direction to staff to investigate possibilities to underground utility lines for the additional two blocks along Virginia Way to the north.