Undergrounding another Trojan Horse

SR-133 Protect Connect Project

Undergrounding another Trojan Horse  

or Bikelanes for $11,000 per foot

Remember the fire-and-fear campaign of 2018 led by a city Subcommittee to place a $500 Million bond measure before the voters for city-wide undergrounding of SCE electric power utilities? If we don't  underground our utilities they said, Laguna will burn like Paradise CA, but then in a 2018 referendum vote Laguna defeated the bond measure.  Well today they are at it again, rather than a Covid-like campaign the Protect and Connect Project will couch the undergrounding campaign in eco-friendly bikelanes and a transit route down both sides of Laguna Canyon Road (LCR), from Canyon Acres to El Toro Road.   

 

This brief summary is taken from the August 2022 Approved Project Study Report approved by the city manager and Caltrans. Of five alternative designs the preferred design Alt-5 shows the existing 34-foot travelway will expand to add bike-way and sidewalk improvements on both sides, a bus route with 10-stops. The existing right-of-way (RW) is from 68 to 95-feet, the project will consume all of it, even Big Bend at 53 feet grows another 9-feet. The SCE Distribution Transmission and Telecom lines are located in vaults at the maximum RW boundary, in some cases on private property. Here's a typical section of the roadway from Caltrans Alternative-5:

Roadway Section Alternative-5 Option

The Level of Service (LOS) is a Caltrans measure of roadway performance for moving cars (not people bikes bus-passengers or rickshaws). A traffic analysis shows the Level of Service (LOS) for traffic will not improve remaining at 'F' in year 2030 and 2050, the LOS for biking and walking improves over the present no-provision condition. No increase in traffic volume is planned and the speed limit will remain at 40mph. The construction costs estimated are $40 Million, RW Acquisition costs are $78M, the Alt-5 project total is $141 Million.  
 
On Tuesday 6 May the Laguna Beach Public Works department hosted a Suzi-Q public workshop inviting the public to review design alternatives. The meeting was heated and emotional with 100 attendees pushing back the lack of transparency, planning, scale, cost, and disruption to rural Laguna Canyon. Two days later the Mayor's Newsletter said  the meeting was well attended and "a Success"!

Hired city consultants Mark Thomas said of this project: "This will require easements from various [property] owners throughout the corridor to locate the underground facilities outside of the right-of-way. This will be cost prohibitive and potentially require the use of eminent domain and should be considered infeasible."
 
Hired city consultants HDR said of this project:
"The results of the benefit-cost analysis for the Utility Undergrounding alternative generally support the conclusion that a utility undergrounding project along Laguna Canyon Road may be economically worthwhile under certain conditions if such a plan fits the City’s vision for the Laguna Canyon Road corridor, but also that such a project is unlikely to generate benefits well in excess of project costs." UPDATE: By October 2023 Mark Thomas recommended the project move ahead: "With the cumulative benefit of relinquishment and the ability to effectively mitigate risk to the greatest extent possible, it is recommended that the City formally request Caltrans to immediately initiate the relinquishment process of Lag una Canyon Road ." -Agenda Report 9 January 2024.

During the 2018 fire-and-fear campaign there were three project alternatives for SR-133 proposed in a city staff report, Alternative 1-No build option, 2-Underground power utilities $90M, 3-harden the high-risk LCR utility poles for $2M. Alternative 3 would meet the objective for fire protection yet our Subcommittee nary anybody else ever mentioned it again. "Way-to-cheap for canyon beautification"  goes the argument. 

Protected Power Poles Option

 
Finally, since March pending legislation now before the California Senate Appropriations Committee (SB-960 Weiner) will force Caltrans to implement Complete Streets on the entire length of LCR and PCH. Indeed all California highways under their control must conform to this Caltrans mandate Deputy Directive 64, this means CALTRANS MUST provide a multi-modal solution for LCR WHETHER OR NOT LAGUNA PURSUES UNDERGROUNDS.  
 
Given pricey consultants hired for expert project recommendations, shouldn't our city Subcommittee heed the advice? Is modifying LCR for no traffic improvement worth the project cost? Just Wondering.

Les Miklosy
Resident