Alicia Parkway Work Almost Complete

Residents will have an easier drive north in a few months with the opening of three six-lane sections of Alicia Parkway between Aliso Creek Road and Moulton Parkway.

The county and two private developers have been working since December, 1991, on widening or building separate sections of the road, which will improve traffic flows for motorists trying to get from Aliso Creek Road to Interstate 5 in Laguna Hills, said Ken Montgomery, Laguna Niguel’s public works director. The sections are expected to open by October, he said.

“It will be a big improvement,” he said. “Once it’s open, it will be a godsend. . . . We get lots of calls from residents about when it’s going to open.”

The county is handling construction of the southern section of the road, from just south of Aliso Creek Road to Avila Road. Contractor for the $5-million project is Griffith Co. of Santa Ana.

The middle section, from Avila Road to Pacific Park Drive, is being built by the property owner, S & S Construction Co. of Westminster, for $630,000. The section was required by the city as a condition for development of a commercial center in the area.

The northern section between Pacific Park Drive and Moulton Parkway, in the unincorporated Aliso Viejo development, is being widened by the development’s owner, Mission Viejo Co., for $1 million.

The county-built section is being paid by the Coastal Area Road Improvement and Traffic Signal Fund, a regional depository for developers’ fees used to support public improvements. The two private developers are receiving credits in the CARITS fund for their costs, county planner Charles Antos said.

The city also plans this month to begin widening a two-mile stretch of La Paz Road that runs along Laguna Niguel Regional Park between Aliso Creek and Kings roads. The project, expected to take seven months, will expand the three-lane road to four lanes and add a landscaped median, Montgomery said.

The $1.8-million project, to be built by Excalibur Construction, is being paid for with CARITS funds, Montgomery said.