PCH Box Culvert Replacement Finished In Time For Memorial Day

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — Caltrans OC has completed its box culvert replacement project at Broadway and Pacific Coast Highway before Memorial Day, which is largely considered a coup of maximum proportions. Or, a project that finished right on time and on schedule, thanks to the city of Laguna Beach's moratorium on construction projects over the summer months.

The $3.6 million box culvert replacement fixes a problem a century in the making as the road was expected to fail sometime during the next rainy season.

Box culverts are designed to collect and distribute rainwater and ocean flooding. This one, built 100 years ago, was no longer safe.

Rebar that once held the concrete together had all but rusted completely away, putting that area of the road into total jeopardy.

On Thursday, Caltrans spokesperson Darcy Birden said the short schedule and 24-hour workdays, double shifts and lane closures all worked together to ensure Caltrans completed the project in advance of the deadline.

The City of Laguna Beach's Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Committee Chairman, Matt Lawson, shared the roadwork's necessity during a council meeting in April.

"Either we do it when we schedule it, or we do it when the road caves in," Lawson said. "It's going to be Carmageddon," Lawson said. Between winter rains, summer traffic, fall fire danger, there is no choice but to do it in the spring. "It will be an inconvenience for many, but it has to get done."

After two months of work, late nights, stalled traffic, and headaches for Laguna Beach drivers, now all we'll have to worry about is holiday and summer traffic.

Read also: Roadwork Through Memorial Day To Affect Laguna Drivers, Stores

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