Southbound traffic flow could soon be re-established on a stretch of La Paz Road in Laguna Niguel that‘s been closed for months because of earth movement.
The city has secured millions in state grants for permanent repairs and is also prepared to move forward with a more immediate plan to get traffic moving again in at least some lanes.
Over the years, soil shifting has caused substantial damage to the roadbed and sidewalk on the southbound side of La Paz Road, from Rancho Niguel Road to Kings Road, prompting the city last spring to close the lanes out of concerns for safety and launch a multi-pronged effort to temporarily reroute traffic and find long-term solutions to the slope slippage.
The city is making substantial progress on all fronts, city staff said this week, and the City Council approved a handful of items related to the issue at its Feb. 20 meeting, including approving a $2 million construction contract that would restore two-way traffic on La Paz Road all the way south to Crown Valley Parkway.
The city’s main goal at this point is safely bringing two-way traffic flow back to La Paz Road, said Justin Martin, assistant city manager, especially to accommodate the many residents who utilize the thoroughfare to work and shop.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience during all of these processes, but we’re committed to getting the road back, first, to a two-way traffic flow, and then to the permanent repairs,” he said. “We want to try to minimize the impact as much as we can.”
La Paz Road was built in the late 1960s with one lane in each direction, then widened in the 1990s to include two lanes in each direction, according to city staff reports.
The earth movement was incremental at first, city records show, with the city responding over the years by repairing damage here and there to the road and sidewalks, commissioning geotechnical studies, and installing dozens of caissons on La Paz Road to help stabilize it.
But the shifting…
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